Joshua vs. Usyk 2 Odds: The champion is the early favourite in the betting

Sunday 19th June saw the announcement of a fight that we've been expecting for a long time now. Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua will run it back for the unified World Heavyweight crown on August 20th in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. We've asked our professor of pugilism Adam Roberts to give us the early lowdown on this colossal mega-fight and let us know where the odds stand just two months away from fight night. 

Well, it's finally official...

The worst kept secret in boxing is finally done. A rematch that's been heavily delayed due to the Ukrainian war, which saw Usyk enrol in the Kyiv Territorial Defence unit to protect his homeland, is now officially happening on August 20th. A further delay may have arisen from the decision of Anthony Joshua to stick with Matchroom Boxing and Eddie Hearn and defect from his customary home turf of Sky Sports Box Office for the new streaming upstart DAZN. 

All the i's have been dotted and the t's have been crossed, however, and we finally have a fight to see if Usyk truly is a legitimate belt holder at Heavyweight or whether Joshua simply under-estimated the former Cruiserweight in the first fight at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium back in September (see below) and will make the necessary adjustments to reclaim his Heavyweight baubles. It's Repeat or Revenge time and we're all over it baby!

Onto the odds...

It's clear from the first show that the bookies don't believe that the first fight was a fluke occurrence. Usyk is best priced 1/2 to repeat the victory over Joshua and as short as 2/5. Joshua is best priced 2/1 to avenge his defeat against the Ukrainian with the draw way out at 20/1.

I'm inclined to agree with that analysis at first glance, especially when I saw these pictures coming out of Usyk's fight camp two months from fight night. He looks in great shape and appears to be turning into a fully fledged heavy these days.

Again in the Method of Victory market it's clear that the bookmakers see an exact repeat of the first fight with Usyk winning via decision. It's the obvious pick but I wouldn't be so sure. I think Usyk now knows that he can stand, trade and hurt AJ and with him bulking up even further he may decide to go looking for the knockout - similar to how Tyson Fury did in the second Deontay Wilder fight. 

The round betting is all stacked towards a late Usyk KO or an early Joshua finish. The bookmakers expect Joshua to come out firing and probably think that's his only way of winning. The longer the fight goes on the more dangerous Usyk will become and he could put AJ to the canvas as he's tiring.

Last but not least, we've got the fight to go the distance market and this one is fairly split. A points decision is slightly odds on, with the fight to be stopped before the twelve rounds are out around the evens mark. This certainly tallies up with everything we have previously mentioned. Either way, it's sure to be an intriguing fight. 

There is a press conference scheduled for Tuesday 21st June which should give us a little insight into the currently mentality and thought processes of the two men and may mean for some odds fluctuations. I will be back in fight week with a full fight preview, predictions and fight specific offers. Bookmark our boxing page at BettingOdds.com for all your big fight info.