Bellew vs Flores Odds – The Echo Arena in Liverpool, England hosts WBC world cruiserweight title action this Saturday October 15th as champion Tony Bellew defends his title against American BJ Flores.
Bellew (27-2-1) is making the first defense of the belt he won back in May when he stopped South Africa’s Ilunga Makabu in the third round. Bellew is popular in his hometown and he is fighting a fighter who is ranked #14 by the WBC and is no where near the top 20 in the weight class as a whole. Bellew did a lot of talking about moving up to fight David Haye at heavyweight, and he certainly has come into his own in terms of fighting since coming to the cruiserweight division but the choice of Flores as an opponent is a good example of grabbing a paycheck and ringtime with as little risk as possible.
Flores is 32-2-1 and 37 years old. In the last 15 months, he has fought just once, winning a six rounder against 12-3 Roberto Santos this past May in Las Vegas. How that qualifies him for a world title shot is not clear, but Bellew will be glad to host an easy fight at home. The line is well over 4 figures at -1375 in favor of Bellew. There is no over/under as of yet, but Bellew has scored KOs in just 3 of his 7 fights at cruiserweight. Flores’ losses are both by decision and he has never been stopped in his professional career.
The all-British co-feature is getting more attention in some circles than Bellew’s fight as 2012 Olympic gold medalist Luke Campbell (14-1) defends his recently captured WBC Silver lightweight title against the battle tested Derry Mathews (38-10-2). At 29, Campbell is older for an up and comer and he was trying to fast track his career on to the world title scene back in December, but he lost a twelve round split decision to France’s experienced Yvan Mendy (33-4-1). Campbell was a strong betting favorite heading into that fight and the setback splashed cold water on his dreams of a world title for the time being.
You have to give Mathews credit for dogged determination. In his last outing he faced undefeated (29-0) Terry Flanagan with the WBO world lightweight belt on the line and he fought a credible, scrappy fight that saw him lose by UD. The over/under on this one will be interesting, as Campbell has scored stoppages in 11 of his 14 fights and Mathews has experienced 7 stoppage losses in his career. Mathews has however not experienced a stoppage loss in more than four years. Mathews is scrappy, but if it goes to the judges it will be hard for him to edge the technician in Campbell.
Bellew vs Flores Odds
The featured fights are set to air on SKY TV in the United Kingdom. Below are the lines currently up at the books, check back closer to fight time for additional lines and over/under odds.
Cruiserweight 12 rounds –
BJ Flores +900
Tony Bellew -1375
Lightweight 12 rounds –
Derry Mathews +415
Luke Campbell -525
Bantamweight 12 rounds –
Ryan Farrag +475
Ryan Burnett -650
Lightweight 10 rounds –
Gary Sykes +265 244
Sean Dodd -325
Bellew vs Flores Odds / Get the latest boxing news and features at The Sweet Science.
