This card was supposed to be headlined by Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller. Yeah. The same Big Baby that was supposed to fight Anthony Joshua. Why all these supposed to’s you ask? Well, he was popped for PED use before the Joshua fight and has once again been caught before this one. Because Miller will obviously be facing some type of ban, long time veteran of the game Carlos Takam will step in to fill the void in the main event. Despite MIller being out of this one, we’ll dive into some bets we like. Let’s go!
Carlos Takam vs. Jerry Forrest
This is a very close fight according to almost any Vegas line you look at. Takam is well traveled as he’s 44 fights into his career and is 39 years old. Jerry Forrest is just 32 and has only 29 fights at the professional level. Forrest was originally supposed to fight Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller but he was popped with a PED suspension for the second time in a row leading up to his bout. In steps Takam who has been in the ring with some elite company like Anthony Joshua, Derek Chisora, Joseph Parker and Alexander Povetkin. He lost to all of them, but he’s a tough cookie and has championship experience. Forrest doesn’t have that experience considering his most notable fight was a loss against undefeated prospect Jermaine Franklin. Forrest has only made it 10 rounds once in his career while Takam has been in 12-round championship fights. That experience will lead him to victory tonight.
Prediction: Carlos Takam -165
Joshafat Ortiz vs. Joshua Orta
Since boxing returned with Top Rank in early June, there have been a LOT of upsets. Prospects falling. Champions losing their belts. Top contenders being exposed. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that a lot of money is coming in on the underdog Orta’s side in Vegas. Joshafat Ortiz is a very skilled prospect in the 130 LB division with knockouts in three of his last four fights having only gone six rounds once since turning pro seven fights ago. His opponent is also somewhat of a prospect, on a smaller scale, but is 24 and is also undefeated at 6-0. Orta doesn’t have excessive power, but he can really box and that’s why the money is coming in so heavily in his favor. This is going to be a competitive six-round fight that Orta edges out in a majority decision.
Prediction: Joshua Orta +32