Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on MMAJunkie.com.
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Although he was impressive in his professional boxing debut, Francis Ngannou is once again a big underdog in the betting window.
Ngannou (0-1) will face Anthony Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) in a heavyweight boxing match on March 8 in Saudi Arabia. It will be just the second professional boxing fight for Ngannou, following a competitive debut against WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in October.
According to FanDuel, Ngannou is a +500 underdog, meaning a $100 bet on the former UFC heavyweight champion would win $500. Joshua (27-3) is perhaps unsurprisingly a heavy favorite in the contest.
The former boxing champion opens as a -700 favorite, meaning it would take a $700 bet to make a $100 profit. For bettors who embrace chaos and drama, a tie result is +2000, meaning a $100 bet would win $2000.
In his first boxing fight, Ngannou was not the +600 favorite against Fury. Ngannou gave bettors who were betting on Fury at -1,000 a solid scare when he scored a knockdown in the third round, which was also the biggest moment of their 10-round fight. Ngannou even entered the final round as a live betting favorite.
Joshua was also a clear favorite in his previous outing against Otto Wallin. The UK heavyweight won by decision as a -380 favorite, rejecting Wallin, who came in as a +285 underdog.
