BoxNation brings us an evening of championship boxing when screening an action-packed card from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia on Saturday. It promises to be a late night for UK fans with an interest, the main event pencilled in for a 2.00am start on Sunday morning. Here are our top Oleksandre Gvozdyk v Doudou Ngumbu betting tips.
A big ask for a fight that looks best suited to the sport’s purists; however, those burning the midnight oil will get their fair share of interest as Oleksandre Gvozdyk v Doudou Ngumbu promises to be a competitive match-up.
The WBC light heavyweight world title will be on the line. That’ll catch the attention of Sergey Kovalev; Dmitry Bivol; Marcus Browne; Eleider Alvarez and even Londoner Anthony Yarde who will all see themselves worthy of a shot at the winner. The light heavyweight division is an exciting one at present. If Liverpool’s Callum Smith decides to go up a division, which looks likely, the top-end of the rankings will become crowded.
While all that is going on, both Oleksandre Gvozdykav and Doudou Ngumbu have a chance to establish themselves as champion and owner of one of the game’s most sought-after titles. This will, in turn, put them in a position to earn a monster pay cheque if any of the big names come calling. That ramps up the pressure on both warriors involved in this contest; however, but it also makes great viewing for boxing’s dedicated followers.
Stacked Undercard
As well as Oleksandre Gvozdyk v Doudou Ngumbu for the light heavyweight title, armchair fans will get a chance to catch up on the careers of a few other talented gladiators This includes Kudratillo Abdukakhorov, who fights Keita Obara over 12 rounds in the chief support. There’s also Ray Robinson v Egidijus Kavaliauskas; Fredrick Lawson v Juan Ruiz and Christian Mbilli v Christopher Pearson to look forward to.
Many of the bouts on the card won’t be too appealing to casual followers of the noble art. However, bookmakers have done their bit to help add an extra dimension to the evening, offering exciting betting markets on the night’s top bouts.
Have your say on the winner of each fight and throw your predictions together to make a punchy accumulator at a big price. Or why not play the method of victory market which challenges punters to not only pick the winner, but predict how they will triumph – knockout or on points. There’s not much better than an evening of live big-time boxing, but getting paid a profit to follow the fights is one of them.
The Nail to Make His Point
Oleksandre Gvozdyk is a 31-year-old Ukrainian fighter who bases himself in California. The 6ft 2inch orthodox brings a perfect professional record consisting of 16 wins against no draws and zero defeats since making his paid debut back in 2014. His journey has seen him pick-up a clutch of honours, including the NABF light heavyweight title; however, there’s no doubt about his major success to date. The Nail proved a point when beating Mehdi Amar in New York last year to win the interim version of the WBC.
It became official when stopping big-hitting Adonis Stevenson in brutal fashion late last year, a result that sent shockwaves throughout the sport. Stevenson was downed heavy in the 11th round in front of a shocked Quebec audience. Although the initial thoughts were about the beaten man’s safety, those in attendance and watching around the world knew they had witnessed a future star in Oleksandre Gvozdyk and one that would have a say in the division.
There was very little in the scorecards at the time of the knockout and many believed Stevenson was on his way to securing a points win; however, Gvozdyk showed he can never be written off and is a danger in the opening few rounds as well as the closing stages of a contest. He has dynamite power in both hands and that will cause opponents to afford him the respect he deserves in future fights. Another win is no better than 1/40 in the betting, with many firms stuck around the 1/100 mark. The KO/TKO appeals for obvious reasons, although The Nail did win the title on points, proving he has the stamina to go 12 if needed.
Frenchman Fancies the Upset
Doudou Ngumbu is a 37-year-old African fighter based in France and he makes the trip for this fight as the more experienced man of the two involved. He has won 38 and lost eight of his previous 46 professional bouts; however, he has stopped only 14 of the men placed in front of him so far. Doudou is more of a boxer and will be eager to make that count. He’ll use his skills to avoid the early onslaught and drag this contest into the second half, seeing how his opponent reacts when the pressure mounts and the judges are asked a question.
Ngumbu may have lost eight times. However, what’s interesting about the challenger is that he has been stopped only once before, despite sharing the ring with some respected fighters; he pushed a few big-punching opponents close when taking them the distance. The spare on his CV came at the hands of Nadjib Mohameddi when halted in five rounds for the WBF title in France; however, that came back in the summer of 2012, so is easy enough to forgive.
The underdog goes into this bout on the back of a win over Yoann Kongolo in Toulouse when grabbing a majority decision over 12 rounds with the WBC Francophone light heavyweight title on the line. The scorecards returned 112-112, 113-111, 113-111; Doudou managed to sneak through a tough fight by the tightest of margins; however, there was no question he deserved to have his hand raised at the end of the contest. Will he repeat the feat here? It’s highly unlikely and the betting has him scored out as a no-hoper. See something in the challenger the traders don’t? You’ll have to work hard but if you do there’s 18/1 on the upset at Bet365.
This Won’t Be Over Quickly
That’s quite an offer in a two-runner field and there’s enough there to ensure the value hunters will be sniffing around, but it’s not for us. We don’t expect Ngumbu to win the fight; however, but we also can’t back Oleksandre at the price, so we’re forced into the specials as we look to secure a bet worth having at an attractive price.
The champion is a wrecking ball, as he showed against Adonis Stevenson; however, he did go the distance against Amar when winning the crown and looked to be on his way to testing the judges last time before getting rid of his opponent in the 11th round. The fact Doudou has been stopped only once pushes us towards a bet on Gvozdyk to win on points; that will give backers a healthy interest at decent odds.
There’s more of a risk involved, of course, so if you are after a bit of a safety net you could bet on the bout going beyond 9.5 rounds. After that stage of the fight it doesn’t matter what happens, your bet will be paid out as a winner if we reach the half-way point of the eighth round. There’s plenty of power on show here but we’d be surprised to see this one end early.