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Info on the Paul-Joshua fight, NFL Week 16 and CFP race on a busy weekend at sportsbooks

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7 months ago

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As someone who deals with gambling (though admittedly I’m bad at it), I’m hesitant to give much betting advice. But since it’s the holiday season, I’d like to offer one amiable suggestion to American bettors: the next time a social media influencer-turned-boxer faces an busy two-time heavyweight champion and Olympic gold medalist, don’t bet on the YouTube guy.

At DraftKings, 90% of the bets placed and 90% of the money placed on the Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua fight were on the underdog Paul. The bookmaker said he could have lost nearly $100 million if Paul, who finished 10-1 as an underdog on DraftKings, got upset. Instead, Joshua, a -1600 favorite, knocked him out in the sixth round and gave the American players another robust breakthrough.

“We were pleased with the outcome – the book did well and it was great to see so much interest in boxing,” Johnny Avello, director of sports operations, told ESPN on Sunday.

Seven years ago, when undefeated boxing champion Floyd Mayweather faced the UFC’s Conor McGregor, professional bettors bet on Mayweather, calling it the best betting opportunity of their lives. Meanwhile, the betting public sided with McGregor, even though he had never boxed professionally. Mayweather wore down McGregor and eventually knocked him out.

Eight years later, betting observers clearly haven’t learned their lesson after Friday’s Paul-Joshua fight. Kalshi’s forecasting market had volume in excess of $74 million in this fight, including a reportedly $183,954 position on Paul taken by one unfortunate client.

At Caesars Sportsbook, the fight returned only 20% of the amount wagered on the College Football Playoff opener between Alabama and Oklahoma.

“The fighting method was comparable to that of North Carolina State and Memphis the previous day,” said Joey Feazel of Caesars Sportsbook. “Some solid bets [on Joshua] He came in through the edged guys who knew how huge of a mismatch the fight should have been on paper.”

While most bettors took a long shot on Paul, there were a select few who were willing to risk a lot to win at least a little on Joshua. High-stakes bettor Christopher Dierkes called the fight “probably one of the biggest upsets in any big-stage sport.” He made the fight hard and believed that Joshua’s price, even this high, was still a bargain. He risked $1,077,044 that Paul would not win the fight and earned $157,549. He said he had basically only one fear before the fight.

“The real risk in my opinion was the hardware factor, which I thought was possible – obviously it’s boxing, crazier things have happened,” Dierkes, chief trading officer at sports prediction exchange Novig, told ESPN. “But I didn’t put too much stock in it, considering Joshua was very popular, already very wealthy, and unlikely to ruin his Jake Paul reputation.”

NFL odds and endings

  • On Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs lost to the Tennessee Titans as 3-point favorites. It was the Chiefs’ eighth loss this season in games in which they were betting favorites, tied with the 2014 Recent Orleans Saints, 2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and 1983 Recent York Jets for the most losses as a favorite in a single season in the Super Bowl era. The Chiefs have failed to overcome the spread in seven straight games, tied with the Buccaneers for the longest such busy streak.

  • The Carolina Panthers, who upset the Buccaneers as a compact underdog, picked up their eighth outright win of the season as an underdog, tying Washington in 2015 as the team with the most wins in a season as an underdog.

  • According to Feazel, the Seattle Seahawks’ Thursday victory over the Los Angeles Rams was the second-biggest win of the season for Caesars Sportsbook bettors. The biggest win for Caesars bettors was the Buffalo Bills’ 41-40 win over the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1.

College football odds

  • Alabama will start the week as a 7-point underdog against No. 1 Indiana in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1. The Crimson Tide hasn’t finished a game with a lead of at least six points since the 2008 SEC Championship Game against Florida.

  • According to ESPN research, Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer has won 10 of his 14 games as an underdog in his coaching career, the best winning percentage of any coach who has been an underdog in at least 10 games since the 1978 FBS/FCS split.

College football quarterfinal lines

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Boxing

Usyk Analyzes Anthony Joshuas Performance Against Kristian Prenga After Overcoming Two Knockdowns

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13 hours ago

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July 25, 2026

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"Usyk Analyzes Anthony Joshua's Performance Against Kristian Prenga After Overcoming Two Knockdowns"

Oleksandr Usyk has shared his reaction to Anthony Joshua‘s dramatic knockout victory against Kristian Prenga.

Usyk nearly suffered his own shock defeat in May when he was pushed to the limit by kickboxing star Rico Verhoevenand two months on it was nrw teammate Joshua’s turn to come close to a massive upset loss that would have stunned the heavyweight division.

The Brit was dropped twice by massive underdog Prenga in the opening round of their clash in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, but ‘AJ’ managed to recover and record a big knockdown of his own in the second round that resulted in the stoppage victory.

Joshua and Usyk now train together, having famously had two battles for the unified world heavyweight title in 2021 and 2022, and the Ukrainian has had his say on his stablemate’s victory over Prenga.

Speaking to TalkSporttwo-time undisputed champion Usyk praised Joshua, insisting ‘AJ is back’ before predicting that Joshua will now claim a knockout win over long-term rival Tyson Fury in his next bout.

“Anthony Joshua is next undisputed champion. First round it’s a test but AJ is back.

It’s boxing, [the] big upper cut is good, it’s a knockdown. AJ [come] back and win.

“Greedy Belly [Fury] will speak now and say weak chin, Greedy Belly get out. AJ wins [against Fury], [he will] knock him out.”

Fury was victorious on Friday as he earned a seventh round retirement win against Mariusz Wach in Thailand, paving the way for the showdown against Joshua later this year.

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Boxing

Jake Paul Reacts to Anthony Joshuas Stunning Victory Over Kristian Prenga After Two Early Knockdowns

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15 hours ago

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July 25, 2026

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"Jake Paul Reacts to Anthony Joshua's Stunning Victory Over Kristian Prenga After Two Early Knockdowns"

Jake Paul was the last man to fight Anthony Joshua and he has now revealed his verdict on AJ’s chaotic victory over Kristian Prenga.

Joshua went up against Prenga in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturdayin a clash that was expected to be a comfortable win for the former world heavyweight champion in order to set up the long overdue battle against Tyson Fury.

Any hopes of seeing that clash were nearly ended after AJ was dropped twice in the opening round of the bout, though he was able to recover and claim the second round knockout to come out on top and prevent a stunning shock upset from taking place.

Saturday’s outing saw Joshua back in the ring for the first time since his sixth round triumph over YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul back in Decemberand now ‘The Problem Child’ himself has shared his reaction to his former rival’s victory over Prenga.

Posting on social mediaPaul praised AJ for earning the win, after returning to action following the tragic car crash he was involved in at the end of last year which took the lives of his two close friends.

“Happy for Joshua with that win after all he’s been through. Remembering Sina and Latz with this one.”

The win for Joshua should now tee up for meeting with Fury later this year, after ‘The Gypsy King’ held up his end of the bargain by also securing a win in his warm-up bout on Friday, securing a seventh round retirement win against Mariusz Wach.

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Boxing

Tony Bellew Reviews Anthony Joshuas Comeback Victory Over Kristian Prenga After Knockdown Drama

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15 hours ago

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July 25, 2026

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Tony Bellew Reviews Anthony Joshua's Comeback Victory Over Kristian Prenga After Knockdown Drama

Anthony Joshua may have earned a knockout win over Kristian Prenga but the fight certainly didn’t unfold as most people expected.

Joshua was facing the Albanian in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, and it looked like a massive upset could be on the cards when he was dropped twice in the opening round.

‘AJ’ was able to recover and went on to secure a second round knockout victory to prevent the shock lossseemingly paving the way for the battle against Tyson Fury later this year.

One man who was ringside to witness the battle was former cruiserweight world champion Tony Bellewand he praised Joshua’s ability to turn things around in the fight after describing it as ‘chaos’.

“We predicted round two but I don’t think we foresaw that. That was chaos. He doesn’t see the uppercut coming and finds himself on the floor without knowing how he got there.

“The second one he did see it coming and he was able to clench down on the jaw. He got up and then the experience that he has he used tonight because he tied him up. Against Andy Ruiz he didn’t know what he was doing and didn’t know how to do that, but tonight he did.

“He showed once again there is no quit. To be that hurt in the first round and get up, that’s the recoveries of power. People talk about your chin, but it’s not, it’s the level of fitness that gets you up from the floor.

“When Joshua gets a fighter hurt he’s the best finisher in the division. Whenever he hurts someone they’re gone. I haven’t seen him drop anybody and they survive, only Andy Ruiz. He’s a ruthless finisher.”

The clash between Joshua and Fury is now expected to be announced soon for later this year, after Fury won his own interim fight on Friday by defeating Mariusz Wach.

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