Early Betting Odds for Ryan Burnett v Zhanat Zhakiyanov World Title Unification
We are two and a half months out from the return of the Sky Sports cameras to Belfast.
Ryan Burnett [17(9)-0] will defend his IBF bantamweight title, and look to unify with the WBA belt, when he takes on fellow champion Zhanat Zhakiyanov [27(18)-1(0)] on Saturday October 21st at the SSE Odyssey Arena.
It is rare to see a fighter unify in their first defence, and even rarer to see both parties of a unification to be making the first defence of their belts.
Burnett is aiming to become Ireland’s second unified champ after Carl Frampton, and will be the first to attempt to do so on home turf.
The Kazakh road warrior won the WBA 118lbs belt back in January when he dethroned Rau’shee Warren in the American’s home state of Ohio. Burnett then defeated Lee Haskins in June to claim the IBF portion of the crown
A fight with a back story, Zhakiyanov and Burnett used to be training and sparring partners back in 2013 and 2014 under Ricky Hatton, even sharing a card at the Holiday Inn in Belfast, before the Irish boxer switched from Manchester to London to link up with ‘The Dark Lord’ Adam Booth.
A widely praised fight, the unification clash has only been officially confirmed for a day and, at present, Irish bookmaking giant Paddy Power are the only outlet offering prices.
Currently there are only Win-Draw-Win and Draw No Bet markets available.
Belfast’s Burnett starts out as a competitive odds-on favourite against his former teammate, and comes in at 4/9 to grab the win. Zhakiyanov is 7/4 to win from the away corner, a position that he is wholly familiar with. The draw is 22/1.
To eliminate the risk of a draw, Burnett is 2/5 with your stake refunded if the fight is tied on the cards, while Zhakiyanov is 6/4.
Burnett began at the same price earlier in the Summer when he won the red belt against Haskins at the same venue before being backed in to 1/3 by fight night – while his English opponent would stretch to 11/4.
Extended markets will be published once they are released, stay tuned to online sites and Boxing Betting Apps for further details and offers.
An undercard for the fight is yet to be confirmed, with a press conference in the Titanic City next week expected to reveal the supporting acts – as well as the ticket details. Irish-Boxing.com took a look at who may be on the undercard recently.
