There are some huge fights to come this weekend with Vasyl Lomachenko and Gervonta Davis both in action.
Lomachenko will look to respond to his defeat to Teofimo Lopez against Japan’s Masayoshi Nakatani in Las Vegas, while Davis fights at super lightweight for the first time when he comes up against Mario Barrios.
Davis and Barrios are due to fight at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, with both fights set to take place in the early hours of Sunday morning for UK fans.
Lomachenko Looking to Make a Statement
Lomachenko suffered just the second defeat of his career as he lost by way of unanimous decision to Lopez in October, losing his WBA (Super), WBP and The Ring lightweight belts in the process.
The Ukrainian superstar will be looking for another world title shot in the near future and begins his comeback against a tough opponent in Nakatani.
The 32-year-old has just one defeat on his record, which also came at the hands of Lopez, with Lomachenko revealing when the fight was announced that the shared loss was one of the motivating factors behind his decision to take on Nakatani.
Lomachenko is the overwhelming favourite at 1/20 to win, with Nakatani rated at 7/1, but this could be an interesting contest and may not be as one-sided as those odds suggest.
Nakatani has never been stopped and has just one defeat on his record after 20 fights, with 13 of his 19 wins coming inside the distance. The Japanese lost via a unanimous decision when he faced Lopez in 2019 and considering the American has stopped 12 of his 16 opponents, that would suggest Nakatani could take Lomachenko the full distance even if claiming a win does look unlikely.
Lomachenko is more of a technician than a power puncher, despite the fact 10 of his wins have come inside the 12 rounds. Two of the 33-year-old’s most recent victories have been via decisions and ‘The Matrix’ may need to win the judges over to claim a victory against Nakatani.
A Lomachenko win by decision or technical decision is 1/1 and that could be the best bet in this contest.
Davis Puts Unbeaten Record to the Test
Something has to give when Davis faces Barrios as both men bring unbeaten records into the contest.
Davis has claimed titles at super featherweight and lightweight and begins his bid to become a three-weight world champion with a showdown with fellow American Barrios.
Barrios holds the WBA (regular) super lightweight strap, with Britain’s Josh Taylor in possession of the WBA (super) title, and has 26 wins from as many fights with 17 of those victories coming inside the distance.
Barrios is a step up in weight for Davis but the 26-year-old has done so successfully before. Davis is also a formidable puncher with 23 of his 24 victories coming by way of knockout and it is no surprise to see him installed as the 4/21 favourite.
Barrios is rated at 16/5 and he does have significant height and reach advantages, but Davis could well be a step up in class too far for the 26-year-old Texan.
Davis has bettered far superior boxers in the past and he became the first man to stop Leo Santa Cruz in his last outing in October.
The 5/8 on offer for a Davis win by KO, TKO or DQ looks the best option in this match-up, while Davis to win in rounds 1-6 appeals given he has stopped five of his last seven opponents – including Santa Cruz – inside the opening six rounds.
*All odds correct at time of writing