The WBC heavyweight title will be on the line this Saturday at the Barclays Center as Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder defends his belt against Dominic “Big Baps” Breazeale. The champion, Wilder, is making his ninth title defense and is a -900 favorite to retain the WBC strap with the challenger, Breazeale, coming back at +550.
Odds Analysis
The odds are right around the norm for Wilder as he never quite gets the big odds like the other top heavyweight fighters who typically close around -1500 or higher. This is quite surprising as he has never, officially, lost and has only gone to the judges’ scorecards twice.
This is the first time Breazeale has been this much of an underdog since he closed as a +1200 dog vs Anthony Joshua when he fought for the IBF heavyweight belt in 2016. Big Baps lost that bout, the only defeat of his career, as he suffered a seventh-round knockout.
Wilder vs Breazeale
Wilder (-900) is returning to the ring for the first time since his split-decision draw against Tyson Fury on December 1 of last year. That bout was just the second to go the distance in his career and the first time that he didn’t have a victory, pushing his record to 40-0-1.
The Alabama native has incredible power that has resulted in 39 of his 41 fights ending in knockout. He’s a big heavyweight, standing six-foot-seven, and has a long 83-inch reach that allows him to do damage from a good distance. He also has a bit of a karate stance, standing a little sideways, which amplifies his long reach with his jab.
Breazeale (+550) is getting his second opportunity to capture a major belt after he fought current WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in 2016. He lost that fight via seventh-round knockout, the only defeat on his record. Since then, he has rattled off three straight wins, all finishes.
Big Baps doesn’t do a lot of feints nor does he have a lot of head movement to set up his strikes. That being said, he has thunder in his hands, with 18 of his 20 professional wins coming by knockout. He does a great job doubling and tripling up his jab, though, which opens up his powerful right hand.
Both men stand six-foot-seven and Wilder will have just a slight 1.5-inch reach advantage, which shouldn’t be too much of an issue. The biggest thing here is the speed, as the Bronze Bomber is exceptionally fast for the heavyweight division and I don’t think Big Baps has what it takes to keep up. Additionally, because of Wilder’s odd stance, he can be tough to hit and if Breazeale overextends on a strike, he is very vulnerable to a devastating counter-strike that could end with him staring at the ceiling.
Prediction: Deontay Wilder (-900) via knockout
| Boxer | Odds |
|---|---|
| Deontay Wilder | -900 |
| Dominic Breazeale | +550 |
