Boxing: Josh Taylor edges Teofimo Lopez as the betting favourite

Undefeated junior welterweight Josh Taylor will defend his WBO and Ring Magazine titles against Teofimo Lopez on June 10 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Taylor and Lopez are two of the top junior welterweights in the world. Taylor is ESPN’s second ranked junior welterweight while Lopez is ESPN’s 10th ranked junior welterweight. Taylor has a victory over Jack Catterall, the number one ranked junior welterweight.

Josh “The Tartan Tornado” Taylor

Josh Taylor is undefeated in his professional career. His record is 19-0 with 13 KOs. Taylor is the former Undisputed Jr. Welterweight Champion. Taylor is the betting favourite in this bout on sports betting sites. He has -189 odds to win the fight on Betway. Taylor’s last fight was in February of 2022, defeating Jack Catterall by a close decision to retain his title.

He has +162 odds to win the fight by decision. Four of his last five wins were by decision, and one was by KO/TKO. Prior to that, he won five of six fights by KO/TKO. Taylor has +240 odds to win this fight by KO/TKO or DQ. Taylor is the taller fighter, he’s listed at 5’10, two inches taller than Lopez.

Teofimo “The Takeover” Lopez

Teofimo Lopez is the underdog heading into this title fight. Lopez Jr. has +162 odds to win the fight on Betway. Taylor’s professional record is 18-1 with 13 KO/TKO victories. His only defeat was a split decision loss against George Kambosos Jr. in 2021, a little over a year after he defeated Vasiliy Lomachenko. Since then, he defeated Pedro Campa and Sandor Martin.

Lopez has +300 odds to win by decision. Three of his last five wins came by decision, two by KO/TKO. Despite being known as a power puncher, Lopez has +500 odds to win by stoppage, KO/TKO or DQ. He is currently ESPN’s eighth ranked junior welterweight. He is a former lightweight champion.

Will the fight go the distance?

Taylor and Lopez have exchanged a lot of trash talk leading up to this fight, and it looks like both guys would enjoy a TKO/KO victory. The fight has -175 odds to go to decision. The odds are +137 to end in a stoppage. Neither fighter has been knocked out, but both men have been knocked down during their professional careers. Taylor was knocked down in his last fight against Jack Catterall while Lopez was dropped by Kambosos Jr. a couple of years ago. The fight has +1600 odds to end in a draw.