ANDY LEE is expected – according to BETWAY and many boxing experts – to lose his WBO middleweight title to Peter Quillin on Saturday in New York.
The Irishman, who learned his trade under the genius-like eyes of Emanuel Steward, is an inviting 9/4 to retain his belt, with unbeaten former champ Quillin the favourite at 4/11
One can understand why the American is preferred inside Brooklyn’s glitzy Barclays Center. Not only does he have home advantage, he has never lost a fight. Fast and strong, the 31-year-old has won 22 of his 31 fights inside the distance and is priced at 11/10 to make Lee his 23rd knockout victim.
For those punters favouring that mode of victory, further value can be found in picking a round. Consider that Lee has been stopped twice before (succumbing in a big upset to Bryan Vera in 2008 before a 2012 loss to then-WBC boss Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr) and both of those defeats came in round seven. BETWAY are offering odds of 14/1 on the Brooklyn star making it another miserable seventh round for Lee.
But the champion – and let’s not forget he’s the champion – is in the form of his life and is looking for a hat-trick of his own. In June last year he overcame a torrid start to flatten slugger John Jackson in the fifth round, before repeating the trick in December to win the title against Matt Korobov. If you believe Lee’s crunching power can end matters – for the third consecutive time – in round five against Quillin, you’ll get odds of 33/1. Any inside-the-distance victory for Lee is priced at 4-1 and is well worth a punt.
The 30-year-old has never been 12 rounds, which perhaps explains the long 7-1odds on him winning on points but if you’re thinking of laying a few bets, it’s one to consider, particularly when evaluating Lee’s exceptional boxing ability. Quillin, though, has been the full 12 sessions on two occasions – winning both – and laying some wedge on him to do it again – at 7/4 with BETWAY – is perhaps the most sensible gambling on offer here.
FULL breakdown of odds from BETWAY here
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