Boxing Betting 
/ Ralph Ellis / 13 July 2011 / Leave a Comment 
Khan is avoiding trash talk before his fight against Judah
Khan should win but it won’t be easy – and odds against in the early market for the fight to go the distance looks appealing."
Amir Khan wants to put the pride back into British boxing but he will need to do more than watch his lip if he's to overcome his dangerous opponent next weekend, says Ralph Ellis.
David Haye wanted to leave boxing a legacy, and in a way it seems he has. The trouble for him is that he will always be remembered as the prime example of how not to set up a big fight.
His defeat by Wladimir Klitschko has not only left him with nowhere to go, and his reputation in tatters, it's left the sport on the ropes too. And the only consolation is it seems other fighters are having to learn from the hard lesson that it's no good trash talking if you can't back it up when you get in the ring.
Take Tyson Fury. The giant, rapidly up and coming heavyweight from Manchester told us in the Betfair Big Interview that Klitschko would win, and is not mincing his words now. "The fight was, not to put too fine a point on it, rubbish," he's told the Daily Express today. "The way Haye conned the public is a disgrace."
And even the likes of Amir Khan, who is a friend of Haye's, is putting a bit of distance between himself and the man who promised to knock out the world champion but ended up complaining about a poorly little toe. The WBA light welterweight champion from Bolton meets IBF belt holder Zab Judah in Las Vegas in ten days time and he's steering well clear of any trash talk.
"I have got the chance to put the pride back into British boxing," he says. "David is a good friend of mine but I would never like to be in the position he was in and put pressure on myself. I can learn a lot from him, and I won't go down the road of talking up a fight in the way he did."
Khan could be wise to take that approach because, while Betfair's market makes him [1.24] to unify the two belts, he'll find Judah is a far from easy opponent. The 33-year-old has won 41 of his 47 fights and is a dangerous man - all the more so because since returning from suspension he's cleaned up his attitude and got his approach to training back on course. Don't forget, he's a former undisputed world welterweight champion, and some of the six defeats in his 14 year record as a pro have been controversial, to say the least.
Khan's superior hand speed and aggression should see him justify the odds to win, but it won't be easy - and odds against in the early market (between [2.5] and [3.45]) for the fight to go the distance looks appealing.
Five things you might not know about Zab Judah
1. Born October 1977 in Brooklyn, dad Yoel was a three time world champion kick boxer who first took Zab to a boxing gym at the age of six
2. His brothers Daniel and Josiah have also had careers in the ring - Daniel as a cruiserweight or light heavyweight and Josiah - nicknamed 'The Gorilla' as a super middleweight. There are four other brothers, all raised by Yoel and his mother - he says he's been a single parent since Zab was 12.
3. In 2001 he was fined $75,000 and suspended for six months because after losing to Kostya Tszyu he threw a stool across the ring and stuck his gloved fist into the referee's neck
4. More trouble followed when a 2006 points defeat by Floyd Mayweather Junior ended with Yoel and Mayweather's uncle exchanging blows, and a melee developing inside the ring. Yoel and Zab were both fined heavily and banned for a year.
5. He moved back to light welterweight last year and recruited Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker, a long time family friend, to replace Yoel as his main trainer. Zab had carried Whitaker's belt into the ring before his 1997 fight with Oscar De La Hoya.
Forget all about David Haye's underwhelming defeat and get stuck into the 'fight of the year' between John Murray and Kevin Mitchell - a bout that has all the makings of a seriously entertaining showdown...
Don't believe the markets, don't believe the naysayers - David Haye has got the tools to win his toughest fight yet and, if he uses them correctly, Wladimir Klitschko won't know what's hit him, says Alex Steedman....
The big man of British boxing will have to pull off an upset if he is to unify the belts, according to Betfair customers...
No comments:
Post a Comment