By: Charles Jay
Just so you’re aware, Tyron Woodley is the former UFC welterweight champion and has a very solid background as a collegiate wrestler, becoming an All-American at Missouri (he’s actually a native of Ferguson, which should sound familiar).
He has won seven of his fights by knockout, which isn’t bad. He has been a “teammate”of Ben Askren, who didn’t last long with Jake Paul.
And so now I guess it’s personal, as Woodley called out the YouTube star after that fight.
He last fought in the UFC in March, losing by a decision to Vicente Luque. That was his fourth consecutive defeat; a streak that began when he lost his welterweight title to Kamaru Usman at UFC 235.
On Sunday night he will climb into the boxing ring against Paul, who has won his first three fights by KO.
As this fight fast approaches, it looks as if, on balance, there has been some late support for Woodley coming in.
Currently we see a range of prices on Paul to win – the best price we’ve seen is -171, with the biggest price at -213.
If you really want a better price, take Paul to win by a KO, TKO or disqualification. In this instance, you can get a price of -125. Of course, remember that this fight is scheduled for eight rounds.
And that having been said, if you really think the fight will go the entire distance, you could get anywhere from +700 to +800.
You may be a supporter of Tyron Woodley. Many people have weighed in on the side in the last few days. At one of the sportsbooks we observed +183 on him, which might be the best you can find. We’ve seen +175 as well. The best price we’ve seen on Woodley winning inside the distance is +200. And as far as the decision is concerned, you’re going to get a long price there, as high as +1800.
Regarding the over-under, you could, for example, get -125 on “over” 2.5 rounds, and about -118 on the “under.”
My feeling about these fights is that I know Jake Paul has gone through the process of becoming a fighter, whether or not he has the ability to ultimately become a very good one.
The process is somewhat different from being an MMA fighter, even a top MMA fighter, perhaps not so much in terms of conditioning but certainly technique.
And from that standpoint, Paul has an advantage over Woodley. I say that because I don’t believe over the course of a few months that Woodley is going to work himself into being a professional fighter.
That’s just my opinion.
So even if Paul is not the most polished guy, if he is persistent over the course of the fight, he will eventually stop Woodley. It’s tough to go eight rounds in your first pro fight.
Let’s add something too – it doesn’t necessarily matter how many fights you’ve had. It matters how long you have been doing it. Jake Paul has been at this for about three years. Woodley hasn’t.
A quick word about a heavyweight fight on the undercard. Daniel Dubois, if motivated and in shape, isn’t letting Joey Cusamano get too far. You can get +190 out there (well, at least at one place) that the fight will go less than a half a round. Most of the places we have looked at are offering a round and half as the over-under, and there’s at least one place where you can get +210. For the most part, you are laying a price, as high as -175. You can get +130 on the “under,” and won’t have to lay more than -120.