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TJ Reeves:

Well, hello there and happy Friday! Welcome to June. And we’re back on the BetUS Boxing Program. I am merely the somewhat capable host TJ Reeves. He is the [quaffed 00:43:08], the ready to go boxing insider, from Big Fight Weekend. You’ve known him for a lot of years, all over the boxing scene with ESPN and USA Today. Dan Rayfield back aboard as our insider/handicapper.

TJ Reeves:

We’re ready to go over not one, not two, not three, but four, four championship fights here on the program. Looking forward to what’s going to be a wild weekend and this actually bleeds, not only through the weekend, but into Tuesday for the big bantamweight showdown in Japan.

George Kambosos vs Devin Haney + More Fights | Boxing Picks & Odds
George Kambosos vs Devin Haney + More Fights | Boxing Picks & Odds

TJ Reeves:

Dan, good to be back with you and good to be giving some short term gambling advice here to the fans on a Friday.

Dan Rayfield:

Yes, sir. In our first few shows, I think I’ve got a perfect record so far, so I think people might want to take a listen. We got some good fights coming up this weekend, some important fights.

TJ Reeves:

The man’s being modest. “I think I might have a perfect record.” He knows he does. He was four for four last week on the picks, whether it be the fighters outright and how they would win or the over/under, and the over/under is going to come into play, too, for the rounds on these different boxing matches.

TJ Reeves:

We’ve got four of them to go over. We are going to have some time, by the way, for a little Q&A at the end, so if you’re seeing us live in the one Eastern time hour, jump in on the live chat on YouTube, maybe get us a social media question, et cetera. You can follow there on Twitter, as well, with BetUS TV, but on the live YouTube video here, there’s a live chat. You can get questions in there. Maybe you agree or disagree with what we’re doing.

TJ Reeves:

Follow this man’s advice by the way, because he was big on some of the action last weekend, including Gervonta Davis by knockout in that main event with Rolly Romero in Brooklyn, New York. And the under. He hit both of those last week. I was a little eh on Davis getting the knockout. I just went ahead and went for the under in that fight. So, we’ve done pretty well in the first couple of weeks. And here’s a hint, by the way. We’re disagreeing a little bit on this show. You and I, there’s some 50/50 fights, Dan, and just in general terms, there’s going to be a little disagreement, right?

Dan Rayfield:

Yeah. Well, that’s what make the world go around. If everybody agreed and everything all the time, Twitter wouldn’t exist.

TJ Reeves:

Yeah, that’s true. Social media, especially, wouldn’t exist. Okay. So without further delay fight, number one is a massive one in Australia. It’s for the undisputed lightweight title. 135 pound, four belt title fight, George Kambosos of Australia, back in Melbourne Australia.

TJ Reeves:

This fight is actually Sunday afternoon Australian time, Saturday night US time, against Devin Haney, a Californian, unbeaten. He has one of the lightweight title belts. And Dan, very interesting here on the boxing odds. We see what it looks like for Kambosos to get the win or for Haney to get the win by decision or by knockout.

TJ Reeves:

Fairly close. The over/under is 10 and a half rounds, undisputed four belt championship fight. One of the biggest boxing events they’ve ever had in Australia that’s coming up. What are your thoughts? And then let’s get into predicting this one for short-term investment purposes. What do you think, Dan?

Dan Rayfield:

Well, first of all, it shows you, TJ, the old saying, the old adage in boxing, that fights make fights. Because last November, nobody knew really who George Kambosos was. I knew who he was. I’d seen him fight. Those who follow things closely did. He was known to boxing insiders as a one of the tremendous Manny Pacquiao sparring partners, but he was not a guy with a big reputation. He was a mandatory challenger for Teófimo López. He fought him in Madison Square Garden’s Theater last November. Scored the giant upset victory and became a big name, picked up a bunch of the belts, and now was going home to make his first offense.

Dan Rayfield:

He’s a very outspoken guy, a great personality. Really wants the big fights. Didn’t want a victory lap match-up. [Assigned 00:03:55] to fight Vasiliy Lomachenko, one of the toughest guys you could take on in the lightweight division.

Dan Rayfield:

And because of reasons related to Lomachenko’s, now, military service in Ukraine where he’s protecting his country in the Russian war, he withdrew from that fight and that gave the opportunity to Devin Haney, who has the other belt in the weight class. He raised his hand and said, “I’ll take that fight.” And he made the trip across the world to go to Australia and they’re putting on a huge event.

Dan Rayfield:

And it is a great matchup. Two outstanding young fighters, all the hardware on the line, and neither guy hesitated. And when you have two top fighters and there’s no nonsense and no hesitation to take the fight, that always tells me it’s going to be something pretty interesting. That they really want to go after it. And it’s a great matchup. I think it’s going to be a competitive fight.

TJ Reeves:

Well, again, the interesting factor for Haney having to go all the way to Australia, but Dan, we even have been documenting this on our Big Fight Weekend website, our Big Fight Weekend podcast coverage. His father, Bill Haney, has been his trainer, has been in his corner his entire professional career, he was being denied entry into Australia for a previous criminal conviction.

TJ Reeves:

And now, what is this that we hear, that at the 11th hour and the 53rd minute, figuratively, he’s now going to be allowed in the country and is on his way to Australia to be there, even though he’s not been there with his son for the last 10 plus days.

TJ Reeves:

Fill in the gaps a little more here, Dan, on what that means.

Dan Rayfield:

30 some years ago, well before his son Devin was born, Bill did about a year for a drug conviction. And in Australian rules, that would prohibit him from getting a visa. There was people been working behind the scenes for the last few weeks about this. Bill realized that he might not be able to go, so he’s a very close friend of Yoel Judah, who’s a tremendous trainer and boxing person in his own right. Trained his sons as professionals.

Dan Rayfield:

Obviously, the big one he trained was his most successful professional boxing, he’s done. That’s Zab Judah, who is the former undisputed welterweight champion, and also a champion in the junior welterweight division. And so, Yoel took on the assignment and went to Australia with Devin. And just, as you mentioned at the 11th hour, they were able to get the visa approved. And as we’re live, I am told by Top Rank, the promoter for Devin Haney, that Bill Haney has bordered a plane. He is on his way to Melbourne Australia. He’s supposed to be there. It will be, I guess, late in the day Saturday, Australia time, which gives him enough time to be with his son and in the corner on Sunday, early afternoon for the fight.

Dan Rayfield:

It’s a long trip, but like you mentioned, he’s been with his son his whole career, got him started, taught him, guided him. And it was really disappointing just to know that he wouldn’t be able to be there in what could be his biggest moment as a professional. And now, he’ll be able to share in that fight, win or lose. They’re in it together. And I think it just adds to another layer to a storyline.

Dan Rayfield:

And I think it’s definitely, in terms of an emotional boost and you can’t underestimate the emotion that goes into these big fights, that’s going to have to give Devin Haney a big lift in this fight. Whether you thought he was going to win or not beforehand, whatever your thoughts are, this is definitely a beneficial and a good thing if you’re a supporter of Devin Haney.

TJ Reeves:

Totally agree on that. And again, this fight scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Australia. It’s on pay-per-view. They did this on purpose with the timing of it, because you not only have the live crowd there in Australia and the pay-per-view in Australia to think about, but they know this is a big deal in the US because of Haney and because of the fact that Kambosos won his title back in November in the US and fans, fight fans especially, know who he is.

TJ Reeves:

So Dan, this fight on regular ESPN. Obviously you got to have an ESPN subscription through cable, satellite, the ESPN streaming service, whatever, but you don’t have to pay pay-per-view price for this. So we’re looking forward to a lot of excitement here with this Saturday night in the US, Sunday afternoon.

TJ Reeves:

And I agree with you. Bill Haney being in the corner should give Devin Haney a shot in the arm. Let’s get in the prediction mode here. What do you think happens in this fight? 12 round lightweight undisputed title fight, both guys unbeaten. What do you think happens?

Dan Rayfield:

Listen. First of all, I think it’s a competitive fight. It’s a good fight. It’s an interesting fight. It’s a fight that both these guys really wanted and they’re both talented. They both have the capability of winning. I don’t, in any way, see this as a blowout.

Dan Rayfield:

One thing about it is neither guy is known as a big puncher, although they can punch. George Kambosos, for example, when he won the titles against Teófimo López, he did score a knock down, but he also got knocked down himself. Devin Haney is mostly known as a boxer, although if you look back at a fight that’s not that long ago against, say for example, Antonio Moran. Fantastic, sensational, spectacular knockout that I picked as the knockout of the year. So, although they’re known as boxers, they are capable of scoring knockouts, but I don’t see that being the case in this fight.

Dan Rayfield:

But I look at the overall package of both guys and I have ample respect for both them. But I view Devin as the more skillful fighter. And you know the old adage, TJ, I’ve said it before and I’m going to quote the great philosopher, Floyd Mayweather yet again. Skills pay the bills, and Devin Haney has more skills than George Kambosos, in my opinion. He’s a faster fighter. I believe he’s a more polished fighter. He has a better level of opposition. You can’t take anything away from the big victory that George had against Lopez, but Haney’s got, maybe not an opponent of that level, but he’s got a handful of guys that were very solid quality professionals.

Dan Rayfield:

And I just feel like that’s the difference. He’s not scared of going down to Australia and fighting in enemy territory. Remember, this was a kid that was 17, 18 years old when he turned pro and he was fighting in bars in Mexico and in front of hostile crowds where he was not the favorite taking on Mexican opponents. And that was Bill, crafting his career.

Dan Rayfield:

But so, he is not afraid to go into a hostile place, fighting a Mexican fighter in a Mexican pool hall in these little arenas. Little fights. And now, this is what he’s wanted. Go on the big stage. You remember, TJ, after one of his recent wins, when asked about taking this fight against Kambosos, he said, he’d go to Jupiter for the fight. Didn’t have to go to Jupiter, he only had to go to Australia.

Dan Rayfield:

He’s ready and he’s primed. And I expect both guys to give a really super topnotch effort. But all the things I mentioned, and then you throw in the fact that the emotional boost of having his dad back in the corner, I just see a Devin Haney victory, having his hand raised, and him coming back to the United States of America with all four of the world title belts in the lightweight division.

TJ Reeves:

All right, no space travel necessary, but let’s lock Dan Rayfield in here on the BetUS Boxing Show, because he likes Devin Haney by decision specifically here, so that pays a little better than just picking him to win. So, he’s got plus 100 on the decision. And obviously, you say go ahead and pump that over. The over/under his 10 and a half rounds on this. And we’re big on that, on playing the over or the under on these rounds. So, Dan says double dip. Give me also the over, obviously, if I’m taking Haney by decision. So take both of those, and you got to lay a little bit to make a little bit there, but he’s strong on both.

TJ Reeves:

I’m going to slightly disagree. I don’t think this is a distance fight. I think with all the motivation here, I saw Kambosos get rocked in a couple of his fights. He got knocked down in the Lopez fight. I like Devin Haney by stoppage. I don’t know when it will be, if it will be late, but I’m going Haney by KO or TKO, either one, by stoppage at some point in the fight.

TJ Reeves:

And you notice they’re on screen, it’s paying six to one on that. I think that’s the better value than just the Haney straight up win. I believe in him. I don’t know that I believe in the under, so I am going to leave alone the over/under, Dan. But what is your thought on Haney maybe getting to Kambosos and being able to stop him? And that would be a bigger payoff, obviously, if it happens.

Dan Rayfield:

Look, it’s boxing. There are two quality professionals and they’re throwing punches at each other’s heads, so obviously it is possible. I’ve seen Devin, like I mentioned, the Moran fight for example, score a spectacular knockout. And I think though that even though George got knocked down against Teófimo López, I think he’s got a good chin.

Dan Rayfield:

And I’ve talked to George in the past, in interviews and that sort of thing. And we discussed a little bit about his time sparring with Manny Pacquiao. I was a believer, not that he would necessarily beat Teófimo López, but it was not a lamb being led to slaughter like some people suggested. That he wouldn’t even get out of the first round. I never bought that for a minute, and the reason why? You don’t survive a hundred plus rounds in multiple Manny Pacquiao training camps if you can’t fight and if you can’t take the heat. And he took the heat against Manny Pacquiao. Now, obviously it’s sparring. You’re not looking to knock the guy out. But guys get dropped and stopped in sparring all the time.

Dan Rayfield:

And so, that element of it, plus what I’ve seen of George in his other fights against Mickey Bey in the elimination fight to get the title shot against Lee Delby. He takes a pretty good shot. And Devin Haney, I think some people call into question, does he take a great shot? We’ve seen him a little bit rocked a couple of times, but here’s the thing. He doesn’t get hit that clean too often, because he does have quality defense and he’s a fast fighter.

Dan Rayfield:

So that’s why I think this fight goes a long way, because I think George can take and Haney doesn’t get tagged too badly. And even if he does, George is not the biggest puncher. And you add it all up and you talk about the speed and the skills, and to me, it just spelled a distance fight.

Dan Rayfield:

But knockouts are always possible, TJ. You know that.

TJ Reeves:

Sure.

TJ Reeves:

All right. Again, Melbourne Australia is where it will be Sunday afternoon Australian times, Saturday night ESPN for us here in the United States. And there’s our predictions on Kambosos and Haney, undisputed lightweight title fight. They’ll have over 40,000 people on hand in the rugby stadium. It’s known as Marvel Stadium with the sponsor. I don’t know if they need any of the superheroes to be in there with Kambosos and Haney, but that’s the stadium where they will have this fight. It’s going to be some event. We’re looking forward to it.

TJ Reeves:

Okay, moving on. Fight number two on the BetUS Boxing Show is another title fight, this one a long way from Melbourne, but still an M. Minneapolis. Minneapolis, Minnesota. Stephen Fulton, who is the unified super bantamweight or junior featherweight, whichever you prefer, two belt champion taking on former champion, Danny Roman.

TJ Reeves:

Fulton out of Philadelphia here against Roman, and very interesting on our odds. We look at Fulton to win by decision, a minus 250. He’s the favorite. Fulton by knockout, plus 450. Again, our over/under is 10 and a half rounds.

TJ Reeves:

Dan Rayfield, to you. You talked to Steven Fulton this week in advance of this fight. You had an at-length interview with him that you’ve written about, and we’ve also got it on the Big Fight Weekend Podcast in full. Give me the gist of what you think about Fulton defending his two titles in the Showtime Main Event, Saturday night in Minnesota?

Dan Rayfield:

Well, Steven Fulton is a guy who has wanted not only to win… As he told me, he said my goal in boxing, where some guys are just content to win a world title, I was not content to win a world title. I wanted to be a unified champion, then I want to become the undisputed champion and then I want to go up to the featherweight division and do it again. So if you go back a couple of fights ago, he won a world title in a dominating performance against Angelo Leo to get the first belt that he had in that 122 pound weight class.

Dan Rayfield:

He was not satisfied with that. And so, unlike a lot of fighters, and Fulton and Kambosos actually have a lot in common in this respect, neither one of them wanted a soft touch, wanted a victory lap, wanted a meaningless fight and just to put on a show, let’s say. They wanted a real opponent. So, Kambosos is getting that, of course, against Haney. But what Stephen Fulton did was, in November in his first defense, he met up with Brandon Figueroa in a unification fight that was also on Showtime. Brandon, at the time, was the WBC Champion, and they put on a spectacular fight.

Dan Rayfield:

It was a fight of the year candidate late last year. And it was a close, tremendous battle. And Stephen Fulton, in my opinion, got the well-deserved close decision victory. And he walked out of the ring with two of the four belts. And he would like to get the four belts. Now, the other two were held by MJ Akhmadaliev, who has a fight coming up at the end of this month, in his mandatory fight against Ronnie Rios. So, that was not available to him. So what does a hungry fighter who wants to fight top opposition do? You take on basically the next best guy out there.

Dan Rayfield:

And that was Danny Roman, who also fights under the PBC banner, so it was relatively speaking, not a hard fight to make. And Danny Roman was the former unified champion, and who’s the one that defeated him for those belts? That was MJ Akhmadaliev in a super close fight that a lot of people thought that Danny Roman won. And so Steven Fulton has aspirations to fight the undisputed fight against Akhmadaliev at some point. Hard fight to make, but that’s the fight he would like to have.

Dan Rayfield:

And what’s a good way to do that? Fight the guy that beat him, so people can measure Steven Fulton’s performance against Danny Roman, the way they’ll look at… And see the way that Akhmadaliev faced off against him. So, it’s a really good matchup, and whether Danny Roman won, lost, or fought Akhmadaliev is not even relevant. The reality is he’s one of the best contenders in the weight class, other than the two guys that have the title belts.

Dan Rayfield:

He only has the one loss since 2013. And that was, like I said, the super close loss in the decision against Akhmadaliev. He’s never been stopped. He’s a classy fighter. He’s a really good fighter. He makes good fights and it should be a good battle. And I just think this is… It may not be on the level of significance relative to Haney and Kambosos, because that has the undisputed element to it and it’s a little bit of a heavier division.

Dan Rayfield:

But believe me, Steven Fulton Jr. against Danny Roman is a first class fight, a fight I’ve been looking forward to since it was added to that Showtime calendar a few months ago. And what can you say? The only problem you have if you’re a boxing fan is trying to watch both at the same time.

TJ Reeves:

Yeah, that is true. The fights will be on near about the same time, this one on Showtime. And again, Fulton is an action, big punching fighter, volume punching fighter, I should say. And Roman, we think will give us the same thing. So, let’s get into the predictions here of what we think will happen. And from an odds standpoint, where’s the best value on the BetUS Boxing Show. Dan, what do you like here out of Fulton/Roman?

Dan Rayfield:

Well, I don’t view either one of them as a big puncher and, a matter of fact, if people go on the podcast and listen to the interview that I had with Steven Fulton, we discussed his power. He’s 20 and O. He has eight knockouts. I think his power is a little better than what the knockout record shows, because I’ve seen him rock guys and force guys back, even if he’s not knocking them out or dropping them.

Dan Rayfield:

But he thinks that he can improve on his power, but until he does so, I remain a little bit skeptical about that. And Danny Roman’s never been a big puncher, but he is a quality boxer and he gives well and he takes well. To me, this lends itself as an action fight, but one that goes the distance, because of the fact that neither one of them is super fast, neither one of them does anything that awkward. They’re very straightforward kind of guys. I think they’ll see what’s coming, and neither one of them in my mind possesses that one punch equalizer to get rid of the guy. So, to me, good fight, but distance fight.

TJ Reeves:

All right. So in this case, you like Stephen Fulton. We’ll lock that in, to retain his two titles in the main event. And you’ll go ahead and take the over. Why not, because you’re picking him by decision. So this is a double dip again, here, fight fans from Dan Rayfield.

TJ Reeves:

I remind you again, he hit on the unders last week on both the fights we predicted. So, he likes decisions in both of the first two fights we’re talking about. So the over is also in play again. You’re not getting as good of value on the over as you are on the Fulton decision play. But Dan says, why not take both-

Dan Rayfield:

Well, here’s the thing, TJ.

TJ Reeves:

… For this weekend. Yeah, go ahead.

Dan Rayfield:

What I was going to say is value is one thing and I certainly see those numbers and it does look attractive to put the money down if you think that there’s a chance of that. But I’d rather win less money and be right. You know what I’m saying? In other words, sometimes you take a flyer or if you think it either way, you take the one that has the better odds. But I’d rather hit a lot of singles and doubles than the occasional home run.

TJ Reeves:

I love all of that. It’s true. And keep in mind a couple of other things that we haven’t shared here just real quick, Roman has never been stopped. He has three losses, correct? He’s never been stopped. Fulton obviously has never lost, and Fulton fights a lot of distance fights. So more than likely, the over in play here. We see the over, 10 and a half. You got to lay 450 there on that, lay four and a half to get the buck back-

Dan Rayfield:

Keep one thing in mind, also, TJ. You talk about Danny Roman’s got three losses, but he’s only got one loss since 2013 and it was in world title fight where he lost his belts in a fight where a lot of people thought he deserved the win.

Dan Rayfield:

And it turned out to be, if my memory is correct, either a majority or split decision that could have definitely gone his way. And if that’s your only loss and it was to undefeated MJ, Akhmadaliev in a fight that a lot of people thought you won, he’s a pretty good fighter.

TJ Reeves:

… Get your questions ready. You see at the bottom on our rundown there on the side of the screen, that we are going to get some questions and answers. But guys, we already got to comment from a viewer. I’m seeing this on YouTube. If you guys have it from [Tan Lee 00:21:07], who also is with Dan and me. Look, Fulton is favorite. We get this. The Philly fighter Fulton is favorite, but Tan Lee is agreeing with us in the YouTube chat that I see. I see his comment. He likes Fulton also here, so thank you, Tan, for watching us wherever you’re watching us. We appreciate that.

TJ Reeves:

If the guys have it on the screen, that’s fine. If not, I verbally got it and covered it there for you, that he’s watching us and he likes Steven Fulton also in that one Saturday night on Showtime, super bantamweight world title fight.

TJ Reeves:

There he is. Fulton will get the job done, says Tan Lee, right there on the screen. You can participate the same way. Just get into the live chat on YouTube. You can send us a social media message. We may or may not see that live, but we’re appreciative of all of you that are watching us. And I’m seeing the audience is growing on both the YouTube channel and however else you’re seeing us through BetUS TV. Keep the questions coming. We’ll have time for a few of those in a few moments.

TJ Reeves:

Third fight on the list. Also this weekend, takes place in Cardiff, Wales, in the UK. This one a little lesser known, but it is Kenichi Ogawa, Ogawa of Japan making the first defense of his title. His… What Dan? Junior lightweight title, correct? The IBF version of that. And it is Cordina out of Wales, fighting in front of his home countryman.

TJ Reeves:

And you take a look here at the odds. It’s interesting. It is actually Cordina who’s got the better odds. There’s some belief here. He’s favored on the BetUS line, even though he’s not the champion for Joe Cordina. All right, Dan, what’s your thought? We don’t have an under/over on this, but what is your thought on who wins Ogawa/Cordina, Saturday afternoon in the US, Saturday night prime time in the UK?

Dan Rayfield:

Yeah. And in the United States, streaming live on the DAZN. Interesting fight. Ogawa was known to some people in the United States. He had a really good performance a few years ago against Tevin Farmer, who ended up becoming a junior lightweight champion, and that fight was for a vacant title and Ogawa won. He had a positive drug test after that fight. The win was erased. It became a no decision. The title was… He didn’t have the title anymore, served the suspension, but has come back strong since then.

Dan Rayfield:

And he worked his way back into things. He’s been clean, apparently, since. And on the undercard of that George Kambosos/Teófimo López fight that we talked about a little while ago, he got the victory against the South African fighter, very impressively, to win the vacant title. And again, he’s not taken his soft touch going in his first defense.

Dan Rayfield:

He’s going overseas to fight in Cardiff, which is Cordina’s hometown. And it’s a real fight. Now, Cordina is an interesting guy in the sense that he’s only 14 and O as a professional, but he’s already 30 years old, a little bit older to be only 14 fights. But he is got a deep, deep amateur background. He was a 2016 British Olympian. Outstanding amateur background, won the Commonwealth title, was a British champion. And he said in the buildup to this fight at his age of 30, he realizes it’s time to move and to get this done and that, at that age, he can’t see losing to Ogawa and then having to get back in line and working his way back to another shot, which would probably take a couple of years, at least.

Dan Rayfield:

So, he has a sense of urgency and he’s in front of his hometown crowd. And a lot of guys that have traveled from Asia to the United States to Europe don’t necessarily fare that well, when they defend titles. I have a feeling though, because of Ogawa’s chin, his tenacity… I’ve seen him fight several times, his punching power and Cordina’s lack of top level experience, to me, it feels like a Kenichi Ogawa victory.

Dan Rayfield:

And I was actually surprised, TJ, when I saw the odds, that Cordina was favored. So, I don’t pick a lot of upsets, but I think if you’re going to pick an upset, this is a spot to go with the upset special.

TJ Reeves:

All right. Again, Cordina is the slight favorite here, but you’re going to go with Ogawa, the Japanese fighter, making his first defense in Cardiff, Wales, to be able to get the victory. And so, Dan has Ogawa simply to win the fight. We’re going to lock him in on the prediction. Win it anyhow, anyway, and you’ll take the plus money actually on that, on Ogawa there to win it on the money line.

TJ Reeves:

I actually disagree with you. This is one of the first times that we’re on opposite sides here on who wins. I think Cordina gets to Ogawa. I like the punching power I’ve seen. I like him being inspired by his home countrymen and women that are going to be cheering him on in this fight in Cardiff. I’m going to take him by knockout and I love the value at plus 750 on the BetUS line. Not just to win, but I’m going to go all in here for the KO for Cordina to get the victory.

TJ Reeves:

So again, I don’t get credit here. If he wins by decision, I don’t get that. I’m going specifically for the knockout. You’re going Ogawa on the money line anyhow, anyway, win by knockout, win by decision in this fight. So, all right, you and I are on different sides of the aisle on this one. It will happen from time to time.

Dan Rayfield:

And we’re going to know earlier, because this fight takes place in our US afternoon, early, five o’clock-ish, six o’clock-ish.

TJ Reeves:

So, you’re saying long about 6:00 PM Eastern time, you’ll send me the two word text, told you, and I’ll know what that means. I’ll know what that means.

Dan Rayfield:

Or you’ll send me the one that says you told me, right? I know. Well, I’ll make sure my phone is on and you can text me. No problem.

TJ Reeves:

We have the phone’s going.

Dan Rayfield:

[inaudible 00:26:33] For the day. No sweat.

TJ Reeves:

We love that. All right. So there we go. We differ on that one.

TJ Reeves:

We have one fight to go, and then we’ll get to some quick questions and answers, get the questions and answers here. In fact, a couple of them are already asking about some fights that we may not be covering here in the YouTube chat. I can see that. We’ll get to your Q&A in just a moment.

TJ Reeves:

One more fight to go. And we need to explain here that we won’t be back before this fight is on, even though it’s not this weekend. It is a Tuesday night special in Saitama, Japan. That is where Naoya Inoue, The Monster, AKA The Monster, taking on The Filipino Flash, Nonito Donaire. This was a tremendous fight in 2019, an action packed battle for 12 rounds that, in a way, eventually won despite suffering a fractured eye orbital in the fight. He fought through it. He won.

TJ Reeves:

This is the rematch coming on Tuesday night in Japan. In Japan, it’s just different. They have fights on different nights of the week and at different times. So a Tuesday night, Japanese, early morning US time, Tuesday fight. And we see that, in a way, is favored and favored significantly even to win by KO. KO or stoppage. We don’t, at the moment, on the BetUS line, have an over/under. My projection, again, would be that this is somewhere around nine and a half, 10 and a half round. Something like that is what it will probably be by the time you get to Tuesday wagering.

TJ Reeves:

Okay, Dan Rayfield. What do you think on the rematch for three of the bantamweight title belts, Tuesday night in Japan? Who do you like and why?

Dan Rayfield:

Well, the main thing is I’m going to have to set my alarm awful way early, because here living on the East Coast of the United States, it’s on ESPN+. The card starts at 5:30 in the morning, so I’m going to be up early. So, don’t call me that afternoon. I’ll be taken a nap.

TJ Reeves:

It will not be me. Yes, I agree.

Dan Rayfield:

Okay.

Dan Rayfield:

But anyway, like you mentioned, 2019, they fought a ban white unification fight. It was by consensus and boxing media and fans really don’t agree on a lot of things universally. But pretty much everybody, all the outlets, all the fans, all the organizations, the Boxing Writers Association of America, we all picked it as the 2019 Fight of the Year.

Dan Rayfield:

Just an awesome fight, tremendous battle. These guys really let it all hang out. Nonito Donaire is… It doesn’t matter what happens in this fight. He’s already a lock first ballot Hall of Famer. He’s won world titles from fly weight all the way to featherweight, except for junior bantamweight. Just one of the best fighters of the last 20 years or som and certainly in the smaller weight classes.

Dan Rayfield:

Inoue is a lot younger. Donaire is 39 years old. He set records for being the oldest guy ever to win a bantamweight title and then broke that record, and has done so much in this sport. And Inoue is in his twenties still, but he’s fashioning the kind of resume that’s going to probably put him in the Hall of Fame also someday.

Dan Rayfield:

Most people have him very high up on the pound-for-pound list. Donaire, maybe in that lower part of the top 10, still, even at that age. But these are just two of the best fighters of recent times in the smaller weight classes. And like I said, the first battle, tremendous. Donaire lost legit, but he roughed up Inoue. You mentioned the injury that he gave him. He hurt his nose and all that, but Inoue also did well in the fight too.

Dan Rayfield:

First of all, he won. He scored a knockdown, and it was back and forth. And even though Donaire, after that loss, recaptured one of the belts and has defended it and looked good and won by knockout. And I’m the biggest Donaire fan going. I freely admit that. But when it comes to wagering, when it comes to making picks, I’d like to be right rather than go with my heart.

Dan Rayfield:

So, I just have a hard time at 39. If he wins, if Donaire wins, no one will be happier than I will for him. He’s just a wonderful person. Him and his wife, I’ve known them for many, many years. But we got to get down to brass tacks and make the picks, a unforgiving sort of thing.

Dan Rayfield:

You got to go with the younger guy that’s equally strong, that’s a devastating body puncher, that’s got the home crowd behind him, that already won the first fight legitimately without controversy. I expect another outstanding battle, but again, I see the younger guy, maybe certainly the fresher guy, buoyed by that hometown just finding a way to get the job done.

Dan Rayfield:

And I think this time, The Monster… He dropped him in the first fight. I think this time he finishes him.

TJ Reeves:

Yeah. The monster has been on a knockout rampage except for the Donaire fight. And you and I in agreement. Lock us both in, we like The Monster, Naoya Inoue of Japan by knockout in this Tuesday night fight. And it’s going to pay a little better than the actual money line for him simply to win.

TJ Reeves:

Again, look at how strong the odds still are. Minus 200 for the knockout, so the odds makers believe in an Inoue knockout here. Dan and I agree. I like your philosophy here on the first show of June. I don’t care what the odds are, I want to be right. And if I got to lay a little more to make something, I’ll lay a little more to make something here on Naoya Inoue to win by KO.

TJ Reeves:

And I saw one of our viewers also agreed with us. [Aaron Rod 00:31:32] is back this week. He agrees with us. Inoue by KO.

TJ Reeves:

Final thought here on that?

Dan Rayfield:

I was just going to say, Donaire can figure out a way to get the job done… There’s levels of Hall of Famers, right? In any sport. There’s the greatest… If you’re in the Hall of Fame, somebody is the greatest. Like Babe Ruth is considered a greater Hall of Famer than Don Sutton, for example. Not to take anything away from anybody, you make the Hall of Fame, you’re obviously in that pantheon of the great fighters.

Dan Rayfield:

But it seems to me that as great as Nonito Donaire has been for a very long time and winning all those world titles and numerous top quality opponents that he has facing defeated over the years, if he somehow figures out a way to get this job done and win this rematch, I think that puts him on another level of guys who are going to be in Hall of Fame, in terms of certainly in the smaller weight classes.

Dan Rayfield:

That puts him in the conversation of among the handful of greatest fighters ever, say, below the featherweight division. He’s already at the lower end of that conversation-

TJ Reeves:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Dan Rayfield:

… But a win over Inoue on enemy turf in the rematch, in a unification, and all that sort of stuff at age 39? Man, you’re talking about a lot of historical stuff to talk about and to write about.

TJ Reeves:

Okay. And again, he’s the oldest bantamweight champion ever at 39 years of age, still able to make the 118 pound weight. I just think, you do too, too much fistic power, too many of the boxes check in the favor of The Monster in that he’s younger, hits hard with either hand, home country advantage here, even though Donaire not from far away in the Philippines and the far east. It’s still going to be a pro-Monster crowd there for that fight early Tuesday morning in the US, Tuesday night in Japan.

TJ Reeves:

So again, we’re locked in on the Inoue KO. Look at that there. [IBoxinHub 00:33:18] says both Donaire/Inoue have excellent have exciting fights. Yeah, there’s no doubt. This is going to be action packed. You’re going to want to be there from the beginning. I could see Inoue even getting to him fairly early in the fight here. That he goes on a rampage and gets to him. You may disagree with that, Dan. Maybe we’re in for six rounds, eight rounds, 10 rounds, but I could see Inoue get to him fairly quickly in this fight.

Dan Rayfield:

They both have so much fire power, especially in this small weight class, that it wouldn’t surprise me if there was an early knockout either way. And one of the reasons, because not only are they good with their power, but they’re particularly adept with body punching. And that’s hard when you get hit with a real good clean body shot to come back from.

Dan Rayfield:

And Inoue has just been destroying fighters with body shots and Nonito Donaire, I don’t care if he’s 19, 29, 39, when he is 59, he lands that left hook of his. He can turn out the lights on anybody. He won the flyweight title with a left hook against Vic Darchinyan many years ago. He scored numerous left hook knockouts. He did it in some of his more recent fights. The left hook is just something from the Gods and we’ll see if he can fight it one more time against a fighter that’s going to be right next to him someday in the Hall of Fame.

Dan Rayfield:

And the thing I like about the fight also, TJ, is they’re both huge competitors. They have such great respect for each other. You’re not going to see trash talk between these two guys. They put on a great show the first time around. They’ve wanted to have this rematch. They’re so respectful and they’re just quality people by all account. I don’t know Inoue, but I’ve known Donaire for a long time, but they’re just good people by all accounts.

Dan Rayfield:

And I know that about Donaire. First class fight, as good as it gets, at the summit of the sport in this weight class.

TJ Reeves:

All right. Again, lucrative rematch. Important rematch. The winner is in a great position to be the undisputed champion at 118 pounds, and that’s more for The Monster and the future of his career, because Donaire, as Dan’s been laying out, is basically at the end of his career.

TJ Reeves:

Exciting fight, and again, you’ve got to wait until Tuesday. And again, depending on when you’re seeing us, you may be seeing us, obviously, later on Saturday in advance of the fights. You’ve got time on this one to see about line movement, but go ahead and lock in your price. I say on the Inoue knockout, because that may… Those odds may get worse as get closer to the fight on Tuesday night. We’ll see.

Dan Rayfield:

Did you say there was not yet an over/under on this fight?

TJ Reeves:

I have not seen one as of yet on the BetUS line.

Dan Rayfield:

Okay.

TJ Reeves:

We would guess, would we not, probably nine and a half, 10 and a half rounds, similarly because the first fight was a distance fight.

Dan Rayfield:

Yeah. At some point, I would think there’d be a number for that. But you’re talking about maybe you could see it going early. I don’t know if it goes early. I think these two guys have too much in them to go out quick. But it could be a matter of one guy or the other, breaking and the other man down in the mid to later rounds.

TJ Reeves:

All right. I’m looking here to see if there is any more that we have. We got some people that are putting this in. Aaron Rod asked another question. Actually, we got one on the screen that was just there a second ago. We’ll look and find that again in a second.

TJ Reeves:

Aaron Rod was asking us, on the undercard of the Stephen Fulton, Showtime championship fight, David Morrell, unbeaten Cuban defector, six and O. Only six wins as a pro, but he’s in the co-feature fight. Say something about Morrell, because the person in the live chat says, what do you think about Morrell here and the possible knockout or the total here on the under/over for that?

TJ Reeves:

I don’t know what the over/under would be. Chances on a Morrell knockout in the co-feature, Dan?

Dan Rayfield:

It’s really, really good actually. David Morrell, like you said, he’s only six and O. He’s actually not a defector. He came here with permission or legally or however you want to describe it.

TJ Reeves:

Fair enough.

Dan Rayfield:

But nonetheless, he from Cuba. He had a massive amateur background and the Cuban National Team is known for decades as one of the best couple of national programs in the entire world. They have tremendous success in international competitions as amateurs in the Olympic games. And David Morrell was part of that program.

Dan Rayfield:

And therefore, he was able to go in a very quick manner in his professional career. He didn’t have to wait around 10 fights, 12 fights, 20 fights before he got an opportunity. They were able to… His handlers were confident to put him in real fights, early, against good opposition. So, he’s only six and O. He claimed a second tier super middleweight title early, in his third fight, I guess it was.

Dan Rayfield:

But put the belt aside for a minute. He’s a really good, young fighter. 24 years old, already talking about the possibility of having him, at some point in the not too distant future, matching up with guys like David Benavidez, former two-time champion, undefeated. Talking about him in Charlo, possibly, if Charlo comes up. Him against Caleb Plant, certainly down the road.

Dan Rayfield:

Maybe against a Canelo Álvarez, who technically he’s the mandatory for, because Canelo has the main belt that the WBA sanctions. But in any event, Calvin Henderson, who’s the opponent, I think his record’s 15 and four. Not a bad fighter, but to me, just a different class. And I think that the way David Morrell has looked, and it’s no knock on Calvin Henderson, but the way that David Morrell has looked in his last few fights since he’s turned pro… Frankly, I think every fight he’s had, he’s just been a dominating fighter and scores some spectacular knockouts.

Dan Rayfield:

So, I just see the matchmakers who will handle his career. They know what they’re doing. He’s fighting at home in front of a crowd in Minneapolis that has adopted him as one of their own. It’s going to be a David Morrell knockout.

TJ Reeves:

The over/under, actually, on the BetUS line is four and a half. So, interesting on the value here. If you play the under, you’re getting better odds at minus 105 than playing the Morrell knockout, because the Morrell knockout here is minus 600.

TJ Reeves:

So, you’re almost better to play the under. Everybody thinks he’s going to knock him out, so maybe it’s better to play the under. He’s minus 3000 to win the fight, so you don’t want to play that.

Dan Rayfield:

No.

TJ Reeves:

Way too much money to lay to win anything.

Dan Rayfield:

Listen, let me tell you right now. If Calvin Henderson somehow wins the fight, it’s going to be in the conversation for upset of the year.

TJ Reeves:

A big upset. He’s plus 1000, by the way, on the money line to win the fight.

Dan Rayfield:

I know David Morrell is not the most known guy even to the iHeart boxing fans. But if you know David Morrell, you know the dude’s for real. You know that he is quality. He’s big for that weight class. He’s powerful. He’s looked good. And I don’t want to say that my man, Calvin, is lamb being led to slaughter here, but he’s almost a lamb being led to slaughter here.

TJ Reeves:

Yep. All right. So, Morrell in the co-feature of the Showtime fight in Minnesota on Saturday. I think we’ve done pretty well on the questions. We had another guy that was up on the screen saying hey, at 39, Donaire should hang it up after this fight anyway. And they’re off of Big Fight Weekend. There we go. Morrell bombs this guy. I think we’re in agreement on that, as well, for the co-feature on that one.

TJ Reeves:

Okay. By means of recap briefly here. Best bets time. Dan has loaded up yet again. Four for four last week. There are his six predictions, including liking the over in both the Kambosos/Haney and the Fulton/Roman fights. A little bit better value, too, on Haney by decision.

TJ Reeves:

Dan and I actually disagree on the Ogawa/Cordina fight in Cardiff, Wales, Saturday afternoon US time, Saturday night UK time. I like Cordina by knockout. Dan disagrees. He just likes Ogawa to win, period, on the money line. Decision or KO.

TJ Reeves:

We both like the Tuesday night, Naoya Inoue knockout prop. We like that prop, laying 200. It’s better than laying him to be the outright winner. We like The Monster by KO. With that all being said, any final thoughts for the fans that are watching us here? Again, a lot of you have been in here live. If you’re seeing us later on, on Friday or Saturday, we’re live Fridays, one Eastern time. Be here live for the live chat.

TJ Reeves:

But anything else for the fans that are seeing us before what is a great weekend and Tuesday of fights, Dan Rayfield?

Dan Rayfield:

That’s what I was just going to say. This is a… We’ve had some good fights recently and some big fights recently, but this weekend you have the combination of not only quality fights and quantity of fights. And so, this is one of those weekends where you have an undisputed championship at stake with the Kambosos and Haney fight in Australia. You have the unified 122 pound title at stake in the Stephen Fulton fight. And then of course, another unification fight on Tuesday, nighttime in Japan, United States time in the morning, between Inoue and Donaire.

Dan Rayfield:

And it just… As we’ve talked about on the podcast and I’ve written about, it’s just another nice stretch. Another group of fights this weekend, that just continues what’s been a great stretch for boxing, that started really at the tail end of last year with just any number of big fights, one after the other, after the other.

Dan Rayfield:

Whether it’s unification fights or undisputed fights or the biggest stars in the sport fighting like a Tyson Fury or a Canelo Alvarez, just… Listen, it’s a great time to be a boxing fan. I’m not just saying that. I think it’s… Whether it was the pandemic that made the fighters decide they want to pursue glory much more quickly, or the reaction of the fans to help build up these fights, just been a really quality past number of months in this sport.

Dan Rayfield:

And this weekend just continues that trend and into next week with the Donaire and Inoue rematch. Can’t wait.

TJ Reeves:

No doubt. We gave you a jam packed Friday show to preview. Four different championship fights. Dan, we look forward to seeing what happens in all of these. We encourage the fans to read up more on bigfightweekend.com.

TJ Reeves:

Also, look right there. Follow and subscribe, not only on social media, but this YouTube page. Lock it in on this YouTube link. We are here every Friday at one Eastern time. Dan, have a great weekend. Thank you, sir.

Dan Rayfield:

All right, TJ. I’ll be waiting for that text telling me that I was right.

TJ Reeves:

Yeah, we will see about that. You’re always right on that. We’re disagreeing on the one bout. My thanks also to Alejandro, Francisco, Danny, everybody. Natalie with BetUS. We appreciate the support. We thank you for watching. Enjoy all the action and remember to check out our sportsbook website. We’re back next Friday on the BetUS Boxing Show.

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