This past weekend saw one of the biggest upsets in boxing history when Andy Ruiz Jr. defeated Anthony Joshua in the seventh round. But oddsmakers don’t see a repeat of it happening.
Ruiz shocked the world when he not only defeated Joshua to become the new unified heavyweight champion, but did so by knocking him down four times on Saturday night.
Heading into the fight, “The Destroyer” was in the range of a +1000 and +2000 underdog. And while the odds in a rematch are not as wide as before, Joshua still remains the favorite.
BetOnline has “AJ” as the -350 favorite in a rematch while Ruiz is a +275 underdog. That means one would have to bet $350 to win $100 on Joshua or one would win $275 if they bet $100 on Ruiz.
“Considering Ruiz was a 14/1 underdog this past weekend, it would be hard to justify him being another huge underdog,” Dave Mason, the sports book brand manager for BetOnline, told Forbes in an email. “However, we expect the smart money to come in on Joshua closer to the fight while the public will probably back Ruiz again.”
In a nutshell, oddsmakers still see Joshua winning the rematch. It is possible that he underestimated his opponent and comes back even better as most elite boxers do after their first professional loss. The rematch likely to take place on home soil in the United Kingdom will also help.
But what if Ruiz is just that good? After all, it was not just a lucky knockout punch that got him the win, but constant pressure that resulted in four knockdowns. We’ll be finding out by the end of this year with the rematch slated for November or December.
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