Japanese pride Naoya Inoue opened as the heavy betting favorite in his three-belt bantamweight unification clash with Filipino-American Nonito Donaire on 7 June at the Saitama Super Arena.
According to oddsmakers, Inoue, who was pushed to the limit by Donaire the first time in 2019, was pegged at -400 and Donaire at +300.
In gaming parlance, a $400 bet on Inoue wins just $100 while a mere $100 wager on Donaire wins $300. Monetized by optAd360
Interestingly, when they fought for the first time, Inoue was a massive -2500 ($2,500 wins $100) favorite and Donaire +1000 ($100 wins $1,000).
Inoue will be dangling his twin titles, the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation, while Donaire will offer his World Boxing Council (WBC) strap.
Since their memorable fight, Inoue and Donaire have both fattened their respective records with knockout victories.
Inoue, 28, strung up three wins by beating up Australian Jason Moloney, Filipino Michael Dasmariñas and Thai Aran Dipaen.
Donaire, who will be 40 in November, mauled French-Moroccan Nordine Oubaali to win the WBC crown and halted Filipino mandatory challenger Reymart Gaballo to position himself for another shot at Inoue.
The survivor of the Inoue-Donaire clash is expected to find himself facing the World Boxing Organization (WBO) champion.
The reigning WBO 118-lb titlist is John Riel Casimero, who is making a mandatory defense against Englishman Paul Butler on 22 April in Liverpool.
