Vegas Bookies Favors Wilder Over Fury … Slightly

Sarah Stier-USA TODAY Sports

The first big Heavyweight tussle of 2020 goes down inside MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, this Saturday night (Feb. 22, 2020) when Deontay Wilder once again locks horns with Tyson Fury. Being a major boxing event in “Sin City,” the bookies have gone all-out, preparing an assortment of lines and prop bets for those of you brave or stupid enough to roll the dice with heavy-handed giants.

Here’s what Bovada has to offer:

DEONTAY WILDER VS. TYSON FURY

Deontay Wilder -125
Tyson Fury +105

Method of victory

D. Wilder By KO, TKO Or DQ EVEN
T. Fury By KO, TKO Or DQ +450
D. Wilder By Decision Or Technical Decision +1000
T. Fury By Decision Or Technical Decision +155
Draw Or Technical Draw +2200

Will fight go the distance?

Yes +110
No -155

Will Deontay Wilder score a knockdown?

Yes -155
No +110

Will Tyson Fury score a knockdown?

Yes +210
No -320

Deontay Wilder to be knocked down and win

Yes +600

No -1600

Tyson Fury to be knocked down and win

Yes +425
No -850

There’s also a whole mess of props for specific rounds and over/unders, but the formatting doesn’t respond well to copy/pasting and I don’t want to choke up your browsers.

Thoughts

Personally, I’d avoid betting on this fight at all. Putting money on a fight where one participant is, with no exaggeration, always one punch away from victory is plenty risky as is. Combine that with the questionable judging last time out (see scorecard here) and you have a recipe for extreme frustration.

Then again, if none of you were interested in taking risks, I wouldn’t have a job. Your funeral.

I had Fury winning the first fight comfortably despite the two knockdowns, so he’s quite a tempting underdog. That said, he also got screwed out of a victory, and since “fight goes the distance” is +110 compared to Fury straight-up at +105, that seems like the best option here.

If you’re not worried about judging shenanigans, though, take Fury by decision. Though he’s talked a big game about knocking out Wilder, “The Gypsy King” won’t be taking unnecessary risks. Plus, Wilder stood up to a lot of punishment from Luis Ortiz without flinching, so it’s unlikely that Fury manages to put a dent in him.

If you’re convinced that I’m full of it and want to put money on Wilder, it’ll be by knockout. Wilder’s style is not built to win decisions — he’s so ludicrously patient that rounds can go by without him committing to a serious power shot. If it goes 12, it’s Fury. If it doesn’t, it’s Wilder.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE coverage of the Wilder-Fury main event this weekend, which caps off a four-fight ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV) event that starts at 9 p.m. ET.