This coming Saturday we'll see two Asian fighters in world title bouts in New York. The bouts, both at Featherweight, are interesting match ups, with one featuring unbeaten men colliding for the vacant WBA title, and the other matching a champion looking to establish himself as one of the best in the division taking on his mandatory challenger.
The mandatory title bout is regarded as the more one sided of the two match ups, as IBF champion Luis Alberto Lopez (29-2, 16) takes on mandatory challenger Reiya Abe (25-3-1, 10) [阿部麗也]. For Lopez the bout will see him seeking his third defense of the title, which he won when he beat Josh Warrington back in December 2022, whilst Abe will be fighting in his first world title fight, and will be hoping to become the 100th Japanese world champion, and the 10th Japanese man to be holding a world title at the moment.
Coming in to the bout the bookies see this as something of a mismatch, with Lopez priced as a 1/7 favourite and Abe as a 6/1 under-dog. Although this is a step up for Abe, it is interesting to see him being written off by that much. As for Method of victory Lopez is evens to win a decision, and 13/8 to win by stoppage. Abe is 9/1 to take a decision an a huge 18/1 to take a stoppage. As for the draw that's available at 25/1.
The other bout is much, much, more interesting in the eyes of the book makers, as Uzbekistani fighter Otabek Kholmatov (12-0, 11) takes on Raymond Ford (14-0-1, 7) in a brilliant match up for the vacant WBA belt and a bout which will see both men compete in their first world title bout. On paper this is a genuine 50/50 bout, and this shows with the bookies who have been struggling to split the two men. Kholmatov is best priced at 3/4 whilst Ford is best priced at 7/5 with the draw available at 20/1.
For those looking for more value on this bout, it's certainly worth a look at the method of victory market. The most likely outcome, with the bookies, is Kholmatov to win inside the distance, priced at 37/20, whilst Ford is 9/4 by decision is close behind. A decision for Kholmatov is 7/2 and the outlying result here is a Ford stoppage, priced at a huge 7/1.
(Odds accurate as of mid-day UK time March 1st)
