Okay boxing betting fan, while this coming week’s trio of championship title fights might not be getting the same international recognition that this past weekend’s middleweight title fight between Canelo Alvarez and Daniel Jacobs did, make no mistake about it, you’re going to have three great chances to cash in on a trio of title fights that all have the look of thrilling affairs just waiting to happen. Now, let’s find out who’s in action and where the best betting value lies in all three title fights.
Top Boxing Betting Picks of the Week – May 6th Edition
#RT @boxingnews24: De La Hoya On Canelo’s Next Move: GGG, Callum Smith, Sergey Kovalev Are All Possibilities https://t.co/LPibn0Xz7Z #boxingnews
— Boxing Rankings (@boxingrankings1) May 6, 2019
Miguel Berchelt (35-1, 31 KOs) vs. Francisco Vargas (25-1-2, 13 KOs)
- When: May 11, 2019
- Where: Convention Center in Tucson, Arizona
- TV: ESPN
Reigning WBC super featherweight champ Miguel Berchelt is 27-years-old and stands 5’7” with a 71-inch reach. The champ will be looking to pull off his fifth straight title defense since beating Francisco Vargas back in January of 2017 for the title. Berchelt stopped Miguel ‘Mickey’ Roman via a stunning ninth round TKO in November with the win marking his third straight TKO finish after he stopped Jonathan Victor and Maxwell Awuku in the third round in each of his two previous fights.
Challenger Francisco Vargas is 34-years-old and stands 5’8” with a 70-inch reach. Vargas won the WBC super featherweight title by stopping Takashi Miura back in November of 2015 before making one successful title defense the following June against Orlando Salido and then losing his belt to Berchelt in January of 2017 on an 11th round KO. Since then, Vargas has won two straight and comes into this one off a sixth round retirement from Rod Salka in April of 2018.
Prediction
Fernando Vargas is an excellent world class fighter that has only suffered one loss in his career, but he’s facing another clearly gifted pugilist that is seven years younger and has far more punching power. I’m not expecting Vargas to get knocked out like he did the last time he faced Miguel Berchelt, but he is going down nevertheless, this time by unanimous decision.
Boxing Betting Pick: Miguel Berchelt Via Unanimous Decision
Emanuel Navarrete (26-1, 22 KOs) vs. Isaac Dogboe (20-1, 14 KOs)
- When: May 11, 2019
- Where: Convention Center in Tucson, Arizona
- TV: ESPN
Former WBO super bantamweight champ Isaac Dogboe is 24-years-old and stands 5’2” with a 66-inch reach. The native of Ghana suffered his only loss as a professional by dropping a huge unanimous decision upset defeat against Emmanuel Navarrete in December.
Emmanuel Navarrete is also 24-years-old and he stands 5’7” with a 72-inch reach. Since losing the sixth fight of his professional career, Navarrete has won an impressive 21 straight fights. More importantly, the new champ recorded eight straight stoppage finishes before upsetting Dogboe for the belt the last time he took to the ring.
Prediction
For this championship title fight, I;m going to urge you to back Emmanuel Navarrete to get the big win for a handful of solid reasons. First, the reigning champ is the bigger fighter with the longer reach. Next, he’s got far more punching power than Isaac Dogboe and last but not least, he’s got the slight edge in ring experience with 27 career fights to Dogboe’s 21 career bouts. This fight won’t end in a stoppage simply because these are two elite fighters I expect to be at their very best. However, I’m going with the reigning champ to retain his belt via unanimous decision.
Boxing Betting Pick: Emmanuel Navarrete Via Unanimous Decision
Jarrett Hurd (23-0, 16 KOs) vs. Julian Williams (26-1-1, 16 KOs)
- When: May 11, 2019
- Where: EagleBank Arena, Farifax , VA
- TV: Fox/Fox Deportes
Julian ‘J Rock’ Williams is 29-years-old and stands 5’11” with a 73-inch reach. The Philadelphia native has won four straight fights since failing in his bid to win the IBF middleweight title against Jermall Charlo in October of 2016. Williams comes into this affair off a stellar second round KO win over Francisco Javier Castro in December. Williams has recorded six knockouts in his last eight fights and says he’s fully prepared to throwing everything he has at the reigning champ this coming weekend.
“I bring multiple different things to the table that nobody has been able to show Jarrett Hurd, along with the things that gave him problems with other fighters that he’s fought in the last two or three years,” Williams said.
“Swift” Jarrett Hurd is 28-years-old and stands 5’11” with a 78-inch reach. The Maryland native is unbeaten in his career and comes into this bout off a stunning fourth round KO win over Jason Welborn in December that was his third straight title defense after he took the vacant belt by beating Tony Harrison via ninth round TKO in February of 2017. Now, Hurd will get to show off his skills in front of a ‘home’ crowd.
“I couldn’t be happier to be fighting at home for the first time as a champion,” said Hurd. “My hometown has been asking me to bring the championship back home and now I can. Julian Williams is a tough opponent and I don’t see him as a stepping stone. He’s crafty, technical and fundamentally sound. I want to go out and get a decisive win and show that I’m on a different level than everybody else in the division.”
Prediction
I know Julian Williams hails from my hometown of Philadelphia and that alone means he’s going to throw everything he as Jarrett Hurd except the kitchen sink,but for me, Jarrett Hurd is the slightly better fighter, not to mention he’s got the more impressive list of opponents with none likely being better than Tony Harrison, the reigning WBC light middleweight title holder. While I’m not prepared to predict a knockout by Jarrett Hurd, I do like the champ to retain his title in a straight-up brawl that produces a unanimous decision win for Hurd. No one has beaten Jarrett Hurd so far and I don’t see it happening in this affair either.
Boxing Betting Pick: Jarrett Hurd Via Unanimous Decision
