Ryan Garner and Reece Bellotti seem sure to put on a show in their domestic dust-up this Saturday night. Chris Oliver previews the fight.
Boxing betting tips: Saturday July 26
2pts Ryan Garner to win by decision 5/4 (Unibet, BetMGM)
Following the glitz and glamour of the undisputed world heavyweight title fight at Wembley last weekend, we have a fascinating domestic dust-up in Bournemouth on Saturday night.
Local lad RYAN GARNER puts his newly-acquired European super featherweight title on the line against Reece Bellotti, who brings the British and Commonwealth belts to the table.
This should be a high-tempo, all-action affair between two men in excellent form and desperate for the elevated world ranking that awaits the winner.
With home advantage and a perfect 17-fight record (eight KOs), it’s Garner who enters as the 4/11 favourite after a career-best performance in this same arena in March.
The previously unbeaten Salvador Jimenez was on the wrong end of a shutout against Garner, who was busy and accurate from the first bell to the last as he showed the right amount of aggression and skills to dominate the visitor.
'The Piranha' has had his issues outside of the ring but they all look behind the 27-year-old now and he appears ready to fulfil his potential.
A 16/5 chance, Bellotti’s journey to this point has been a very different one and he’s experiencing a real Indian summer at 34.
Having earned the nickname of ‘The Bomber’ with a string of knockout wins early in his career, he then went on a run of five defeats from seven fights and was left staring into the boxing wilderness. However, he has now won six on the bounce and has become a much more rounded fighter, who moves and picks his shots well while paying a lot more attention to defence than he once did.
He is also arriving on the back of arguably the best performance of his career, when he boxed beautifully on the move in his grudge match with Michael Gomez Jr on his way to a stoppage in the 10th round.
So, with both men in fine form and bringing plenty of action to the party, there is a lot to like about this one and it’s hard to see anything but a fan-friendly contest.
I expect both to start fast and it could be pretty frenetic in the early rounds, with each having their share of success. However, Garner looks to have a slight speed advantage and that could prove the difference.
Against Jimenez, Garner showed superb footwork to land his aggressive flurries from all angles before spinning out of harm’s way, as well as maintaining that intensity for 12 rounds. Bellotti can possibly match the work rate but I’m not so he can match the speed of both hand and foot that the younger man possesses.
Bellotti does have experience on his side, though, having been in with world champion Raymond Ford (L-TKO3) and European title holder Jordan Gill (L-UD), and that could count for a fair bit if this is tight going down the stretch.
That said, Garner really seemed to feed off the electric atmosphere created by the locals here in March and the crowd will be even more highly charged this time.
I also get the impression that we haven’t seen the best of Garner yet, with his latest performance possibly a taste of things to come as he comes into his prime.
Garner’s last three outings have gone the distance and three of Bellotti’s last five have gone to a decision. The former isn’t noted for his power and the latter doesn’t rely on his as much these days, so this should go deep and that is reflected by the 8/11 available about us hearing the final bell.
With that in mind and the prospect of more to come from the improving Garner, I fancy the favourite to prevail and to do so by decision at 5/4.
He isn’t just the home fighter in terms of geography but also in a promotional sense, with Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions, who are putting this show on, very much in his corner and that may count for something on the scorecards.
Posted at 1245 BST on 25/07/25
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Both of these like to go for the knockout and they carry power, but I expect Marshall to have too much on her return to boxing and the 4/1 about her getting a stoppage looks too big to me.