The biggest upcoming boxing matches in the UK will be this weekend between unbeaten light heavyweight prospects Joshua Buatsi and Pawel Stepien. These two are set for a 10-round main event bout in Birmingham on Saturday night.
Read along for an in-depth look at this fight on the boxing schedule. With an official Buatsi vs Stepien betting analysis and prediction.
Buatsi vs. Stepien Information
Joshua Buatsi vs Pawel Stepien
Location of the fight: Genting Arena, Birmingham, UK
Date and Time: May 6, 2023. 5 PM ET est. Ring Walk
How to Watch: Sky Sports in the UK
Last Fight Record
Buatsi last fought almost exactly a year ago and won a unanimous decision over Craig Richards.
Stepien is coming off a decision win over Lago Kiziria late last summer.
Buatsi vs. Stepien Betting Analysis
Joshua Buatsi
Buatsi is one of the more exciting rising contenders that fight out of London, England. He has a great amateur career under his belt. Winning national titles and earning a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
His perfect record and 81% KO rate prove that he is the real deal. Even though he hasn’t quite tested himself against any world-class fighters in his professional career so far. Buatsi will have the power advantage in this one. He will try to use that power to break down his opponents, like usual.
Pawel Stepien
Stepien is stepping out of his comfort zone this weekend. This is his first fight outside of his home country of Poland. He also had a solid amateur career, winning multiple youth championships in Poland.
The 33-year-old has arguably less talented opponents on his record. This will be a huge opportunity for him to prove that he can be a ranked light heavyweight. He has gone to a decision in 7 of his last 8 bouts, hinting that his power might have ran out at this weight class.
Updates
No injuries have been reported.
With a win over Stepien, Buatsi will most likely have a fight with Anthony Yarde lined up next–since switching to Sky Sports promotions.
Buatsi vs. Stepien Betting Preview
According to boxing odds, Buatsi is the massive -1800 betting favorite over Stepien, who is currently at +900 underdog odds.
When boxing betting odds are this wild, it almost takes the fun away from sports betting. What you’ll need to do to find anything valuable to bet on is search through the prop bets at your local sportsbook.
You will most likely be able to see that the over/under is set at 6.5 rounds, a decision is +400, and Buatsi winning by TKO/KO is -400. Buatsi vs Stepien betting lines are tough to find value in, but if you put in the time you can find good value in a pick.
Boxing betting is plagued with these outlandish odds on matchups that aren’t really interesting to watch or bet on. If Buatsi does his job and wins this fight, he will be in much better matchups in the near future.
Buatsi vs. Stepien Betting Prediction
For the official Buatsi vs Stepien betting prediction, we are going with Buatsi getting the job done and finishing Stepien for the first time in his undefeated career.
Stepian is a very tough guy, but stepping out of Poland for a fight for the first time and in the home country of Buatsi–there aren’t many advantages in Stepien’s favor.
- Boxing predictions are easy when there are odds like this, but taking Buatsi to finish Stepien at -400 will increase your payout from the moneyline. If you want to dig deeper and find better odds, go with the over 6.5 rounds.
Even though Buatsi has gotten his work done in the first couple of rounds a lot of the time, Stepien is going to be just good enough to last to the middle rounds. The 5th or 6th round seems like the sweet spot for a knockout by Buatsi, after his jab and power start to break down the defense of Stepien.
If you love sports and want more sports betting information follow us as @InsidersBetDig on Twitter and sign up to our mailing list for free betting picks.