Introduction

On 27 November 2024, it was announced in several media circles that the Riyadh card at the Kingdom Arena on 22nd February 2025 is set to be another absolute banger. In this article, we take a look at some of the mouthwatering bouts that have been proposed and we examine the opening betting lines as soon as they become available.

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The line-up

Main event

The card is expected to be headlined by Daniel Dubois making a second defense of his IBF heavyweight title against Joseph Parker.  

This fight is certain to divide opinions and it makes for a fascinating betting event.

On the heavyweight scene over the last year or two, both Dubois and Parker have had incredibly impressive runs, enjoying multiple against-the-odds upset victories against some of the division's best men. This fight is certain to divide opinions and it makes for a fascinating betting event.

Co-main event

It would be a short turnaround since their historic fight in October, but Artur Beterbiev is being lined up to defend the undisputed light heavyweight championship in an immediate rematch against Dmitry Bivol. Normally, such a fight would take longer to be made, but given the rewards that are on the table for these Saudi bills, this may well materialise in time for February.  Given the controversy around their first contest, this makes another brilliant fight from a betting point of view.

Chief support

Back to the heavyweights, and it's an intriguing cross-roads fight between 32-year-old Agit Kabayel  and 40-something Zhilei Zhang.  Kabayel is undefeated in 25, with 17 wins inside the distance. Not yet a household name, he is highly ranked and going back to the start of 2022 he is enjoying a string of stoppage wins. His last four opponents have lasted an average of just 12 minutes with him. Zhang, known for his resilience, will look to stop that trend and it will be intriguing to see how likely the odds-makers believe he is to do that.

Rest of the card

IBF welterweight champion Jaron Ennis (33 and 0, 29 inside) and Vergil Ortiz Jr (22 and 0, 21 inside) have been penciled in for a battle of undefeated, and the highly-touted Hamzah Sheeraz could be getting a shot at a middleweight title (Carlos Adames's WBC strap) to round off the card. 

Daniel Dubois vs Joseph Parker

There are no UK sportsbooks offering odds on Dubois vs Parker at time of writing [27 November 2024] but there are some opening lines quoted in America, where Bovada have (somewhat surprisingly) got Parker as a slight favourite.

• Daniel Dubois:  +100 US MoneyLine (2.00 decimal = even-money fractional)
• Joseph Parker: -130 US MoneyLine (1.77 decimal = almost 4/5 fractional)

    

Latest Odds [29 November 2924]

A few days later and Bovado have flipped favourites:

• Daniel Dubois:  -150 US MoneyLine (1.67 decimal = 4/6 fractional)  

• Joseph Parker: +120 US MoneyLine (2.20 decimal = 6/5 fractional)  

  Use the SharpBetting odds converter to flick between different odds formats.  

   

Decimal Odds to Probabilities

     

   

   

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