Five tips for fight night featuring heavyweight champion Joshua, Groves, Eubank Jr and Thurman
Lee Gormley | June 21, 2016
Five tips for this weekend’s fights
IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua headlines an exciting card at the O2 Arena in London this Saturday night, with George Groves and Martin Murray also colliding in what could be a thrilling bout, while Chris Eubank Jr makes his latest ring outing.
Ahead of the weekend’s action, which will also see Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter battle it out in the United States, Coral provide five promising tips for fight night which could help punters make a nice profit once the first bell sounds…
Joshua to halt American challenger Breazeale
The rampant rise of Britain’s 2012 Olympic Gold medallist Joshua reached new heights in April, as the 26-year-old crushed Charles Martin inside two rounds to become world heavyweight champion in only his 16th professional fight.
Next up for the Watford-born IBF champion is confident American Dominic, who will arrive in the capital also boasting a flawless record so far in his career, but the Californian faces a huge step up in class compared to previous opponents.
After blasting Martin away early, adding another victim to his list of knockout victims, Joshua is 7/2 with Coral to stop his latest challenger within rounds 4-6 at the O2 Arena in front of thousands of onlooking fans and the Sky Sports Box Office cameras.
Groves to outpoint Murray in domestic dust-up
Joshua may be defending his IBF crown for the first time but, for fight fans, the domestic showdown between George Groves and Martin Murray is the real main event, with both men putting their careers on the line in what should be a cracking encounter.
The pair have seven failed world title attempts between them and know exactly how it feels to fall short on the big stage of this sport, but another shot at glory awaits the winner of this match-up.
With new trainer Shane McGuigan in his corner, ‘Saint’ Groves has looked sharp once again, having recently dispatched Andrea Di Luisa and David Brophy, and the Londoner is 10/11 to earn a points decision victory over tough Merseysider Murray on home soil.
Eubank Jr to stop Doran towards latter stages
Since suffering his first and only career defeat at the hands of Billy Joe Saunders back in November 2014, Eubank Jr has gone from strength to strength, with four straight stoppage victories over all of Dmitry Chudinov, Tony Jeter, Gary O’Sullivan and Nick Blackwell.
The latter opponent thankfully recovered from a worrying induced coma following a brutal meeting in March, and Eubank Jr is next 6/4 to stop Welshman Tom Doran inside rounds 4-6 in the maiden defence of his British middleweight title, with the WBC international middleweight strap also up for grabs.
Former world champion Chris Eubank’s son has become a controversial figure since bursting onto the scene and he is pushing towards a middleweight title bout with the division’s dominant force Gennady Golovkin, but first will look to put on a strong showing against Doran.
Thurman to overcome Porter and retain crown
As well as the exciting card in London, undefeated WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman will put his belt on the line against former IBF title holder Shawn Porter on American soil.
In New York, Florida’s ‘One Time’ Thurman is the odds-on 1/2 favourite to overcome ‘Showtime’ Porter, who lost to Sheffield’s Kell Brook back in 2014 when the Briton became world champion.
Regarded by many as the best fighter around at 147 pounds, Thurman is aiming to live up to his reputation by defending his crown at the Barclays Center in the early hours of Sunday morning, with the bout being shown live on Sky Sports.
Hibbert to secure Scarpa success in London
John Wayne Hibbert will also feature on the undercard in London this Saturday night and he is the odds-on 2/9 favourite to secure victory over Italian challenger Andrea Scarpa and successfully retain his WBC Silver super-lightweight title.
The Essex-born champion already defended his current strap at the beginning of the year in fine fashion, when stopping Tommy Martin in the 12th and final round of their bout at the Copper Box Arena.
Including all five of Coral’s tips for fight night in an accumulator this weekend will return close to a tasty £200 off just a £5 stake, so make sure not to miss out on what could be a profitable evening of boxing in both the UK and US.
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