Boxing betting tips: Lauren Price and Vasyl Lomachenko star on big-fight night

Boxing betting tips: May 11

3pts Lauren Price and Vasyl Lomachenko to both win by decision 11/10 (Star Sports)

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The two shows on Sky Sports this weekend both feature world title fights in which timing could be the deciding factor.

Starting in Cardiff on Saturday night, Lauren Price will be hoping WBA Welterweight champion Jessica McCaskill looks every bit of her 39 years of age.

McCaskill (12-3) is a two-weight champion who has mixed with the best females in the world, but she looks to be on the slide now and that has convinced Team Price to take their shot at a title after just six fights.

There is no doubt this is a big step up for Price, but she hasn’t lost a round in those half a dozen professional contests (one stoppage) and the 29-year-old is being fast-tracked due to her stellar amateur pedigree. The Welsh wizard picked up gold medals at the European and World Championships before being crowned Olympic champion in Tokyo, so big things were expected of her in the paid ranks when she turned over in 2022.

While Price hasn’t fought anyone with McCaskill’s pedigree yet, she has beaten everyone put in front of her with minimal fuss and has acclimatised to the professional game more with each outing. She became the first ever female British champion when dominating Kirstie Bavington a year ago and easily outpointed Silvia Bortot last time in her best performance to date.

There should be more to come, and she is a red-hot 2/7 favourite to continue her winning streak.

After losing to Katie Taylor at lightweight in 2017, McCaskill won and defended titles at super lightweight before going on to become undisputed champion at welterweight. Her run at 147lb started with two victories over Cecilia Braekhus, who was 36-0 at the time of their first fight, and the American would be a huge threat to Price on that sort of form. A peak McCaskill would arguably be favourite here, instead of the best price of 19/5 available about the American.

However, McCaskill has shown signs of decline recently and should be arriving on the back two defeats to British opponents. After losing a unanimous decision to Chantelle Cameron back at super lightweight in November 2022, McCaskill was outboxed and outfought by Sandy Ryan in September, only for the judges to return a split draw in one of the worst decisions of last year.

At her best, McCaskill is aggressive and hard to read with her unorthodox attacks, but she has been easier to hit in recent years and has clearly slowed down a bit. That could spell trouble against Price, whose lightning-fast hands should have no problem finding the target against her ageing opponent.

Utilising a sharp jab and good feints, Price rattles off rapid combinations from the southpaw stance and doesn’t waste much when she lets her hands go. She uses her speed to counter well on the back foot and, as a result, should relish McCaskill’s aggressive style.

McCaskill has lost on both previous occasions she has boxed outside of the US, and everything looks set for Price to add a world title to her already packed trophy cabinet. While McCaskill was done a favour by the judges last time, she is unlikely to get that on away soil this weekend and it’s hard to look past Price winning by decision (4/11).

Lomachenko can roll back the years

One veteran who can roll back the years is Vasyl Lomachenko, who goes to Australia to take on George Kambosos Jr for the IBF lightweight title in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Having become a three-weight world champion in a record-breaking 12 fights, the brilliant Lomachenko (17-3) lost his lightweight titles in a tight contest with Teofimo Lopez in 2020 but remains determined to get them back at 36 years of age. He came so close to doing so when dropping a razor-thin decision to Devin Haney a year ago, when many thought the Ukrainian had done enough to win, and he should have too much for Kambosos if returning in the same sort of form.

Kambosos found himself in the right place at the right time when nicking a close decision against an out-of-sorts Lopez 13 months after the latter beat Lomachenko, before losing the titles to Devin Haney in the summer of 2020. Haney boxed rings around the Australian again just four months later and while Kambosos bounced back with a victory over Britain’s Maxi Hughes last year, he was gifted a shocking decision that night.

So, both men are looking to recapture a belt they have previously held, and they have something to prove for different reasons. Kambosos is still trying to prove his Lopez victory was no flash in the pan, while Lomachenko is out to show he still has his old magic at 36, and I am fully favouring the latter to prevail.

If Hughes, who was 26-5-2 at the time, can make Kambosos miss and pay all night long, then I certainly believe the supremely gifted Lomachenko can do the same, only this time he can get what he deserves from the judges to claim a points victory at 8/13.

After compiling an unbelievable amateur record of 396-1, Lomachenko hasn’t had much luck on the scorecards in his professional career so far and you can make a case for the double Olympic champion winning in all three of his defeats. The fact he is still competing at lightweight, despite his clear size disadvantage, tells you all you need to know about his desire to still make history and this can prove the springboard to another super fight with American star Shakur Stevenson.

Kambosos is as game as they come and will be looking to press the action from the first bell to the last, but his one-dimensional attacks should play right into the hands of Lomachenko. The latter has long been bamboozling and befuddling opponents with his sublime skills and he can remind us once more just why he is nicknamed ‘The Matrix’ this weekend.

I'm siding with the double for PRICE AND LOMACHENKO TO BOTH WIN ON POINTS, which pays around the 11/10 mark.

Posted at 1055 BST on 10/05/24

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