Excited to see this. Finally a very good fight on HBO. I was pissed that i didn't get to see Hopkins beatdown of Tarver last week(at least i bet Hopkins and won some loot). I like Winky in this one, haven't seen him have a bad fight yet. He's so precise while Taylor uses his athleticism and determination to win fights. I think Winky just outclasses him and wins in a good fight.

Yeah I took Hopkins last week as well... And I'm going to take Winky tonight. never saw such fucked up line action on a fight....



Erratic betting moves odds on Taylor-Wright fight

By Josh Hansen
Thu, Jun 15, 2006


For a fight centered around the very idea of respect, it’s only fitting bettors would have the ultimate say on who the favorite will be for Saturday`s middleweight title fight between Jermain Taylor and Winky Wright.

“I haven’t seen too many fights that have been bet like this,” says Wynn Las Vegas director of sports and race, John Avello, referring to some serious swings in the odds over the last few days.

Saturday’s fight opened as a pick until Avello saw one-sided action which sent the odds up and down like an elevator in a hotel lobby.

“A couple days ago I got bombarded with Wright money, so we went down to Wright-120,” Avello said.

“Then over the last two days, we got hit with all Taylor money. The swings have been incredible for the action.”

Taylor now rests at about –140 at most sportsbooks, but the amount of action both Taylor and Wright have seen for this weekend’s fight is unprecedented.

Boxing odds rarely swing this much so early. With two closely matched opponents and the fight airing live for free on HBO (9:30 p.m. ET), it’s easy to understand why boxing fans and bettors alike are taking their best shots.

Taylor is fresh off back-to-back unanimous decision victories over middleweight king Bernard Hopkins and has been training under world-renowned Emanuel Steward.

With a resume that includes Tommy Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard, Oscar De La Hoya, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, and current heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, there’s no arguing Steward has the skills to make a great boxer, even better.

However, there are questions about Taylor’s preparation, mainly the mere six weeks he`s had to train under Steward.

If Taylor isn’t ready for Wright’s southpaw stance and stealthy defense, which could limit Taylor`s favored jab, many feel "Bad Intentions" could be in trouble.

Taylor doesn’t see it that way.

“I`ve never seen so many southpaws in my life," Taylor told USA Today about his sparring partners. "All these guys were good. We had great workouts."

wow, that's a crazy article. I hate when the swings are like that. The heavy hitters move lines like that on purpose. They'll bet early just to move the line so they can take the other guy. Not so confident in my Wright bet now. ...but will probably put more on it soon enough

If it's any consolation you can see the Hopkins-Tarver fight before Taylor-Wright. I hope Winky Wright beats the shit out of Taylor.

i cant wait for this tonight. im interested to see if taylor has stopped his erratic fighting style since being trained by emanuel steward. i think winky will win but it should be a good fight

oh yeah, forgot about that. Too bad i'll be knee deep in hockey and will only catch glimpses of the fight. i wish i had PIP

Am I the only one who thinks boxing is boring as hell?

yes

Heavyweight boxing is boring, everything else is great.

I thought Wright won that fight, but I can see it being a draw. Am I the only one that thought Jim Lampley was pulling for Taylor? It looked to me like a lot of Taylor's punches were into Wright's gloves, but Lampley would have you think he was beating the crap out of Wright.

typical jim lampley if you ask me, i thought during taylor's two fights w/ hopkins he made it obvious he was pulling for taylor. anyway, i wanted winky to win but i cant really complain about the decision. it was an entertaining fight and thats exactly what i wanted to see

also, i watched the replay of the hopkins/tarver fight and goodamn what a beating. hopkins is one of my all time favs so im glad he's going out on top

and also, you're a fag.

I can definitely recognize how the fight could have been seen as a draw, but I really think Winky Wright should have won. His defense was great and he was fighting a much more effective fight, landing more punches and landing at a higher percentage. Maybe if he didn't go all conservative in the 12th he would have won. Still a good fight though, I hope Winky Wright will change his mind and try to get a rematch.

Oh, right. Not finding two idiots hitting each other must make me gay.

you talk shit about football and boxing... either youre a fag, or youre a scrawnly little fuck who couldnt compete

good fight, btw

Or I find both sports boring. Which I guess is part of being gay. Thank you for stereotyping.

no.... you're a scrawny little fuck... combine that with a lack of athletic ability and you have no choice but to not like em

don't come into threads for no reason... you don't like boxing, fine... but why pollute the thread?... because youre probably too big of a pussy to confront the jocks at your school, so you get off doing it here... bahahah

Right...uh...I am the 'jock' at my school. We have a football team that hasn't won more than 5 games in 7 years. Honest to god, soccer and swim meets draw more people.

How does not finding sports interesting make me scrawny and without any athletic ability? I didn't pollute the thread, originally. I simply asked if anyone else found boxing boring.