The sports books are carrying odds for a handful of fights on Friday, two of which are notable for their high profiles. Oslo hosts the return of “The First Lady” Cecilia Braekhus as she defends her 5 world welterweight titles against Klara Svensson as women’s boxing center stage in Norway. Braekhus is originally from Colombia but she has lived in Norway all her life and she played a huge role in getting boxing to be legal again in her adopted Scandinavian home. At 29-0 she is considered the best female pound for pound boxer in the world but she is now 35 years old and Braekhus wants to make sure she remains on top as long as possible as women’s boxing continues to come to the main stream. Her last outing came back in October when she faced Anne Sophie Mathis in what was the first boxing card in Norway in more than 30 years. At 29 years old, Rival Klara Svensson (17-1) is 6 years younger than Braekhus and in her last outing back in September she won an interim version of the WBC belt when she defeated Mikaela Lauren. Svensson is from neighboring Sweden and the lone loss of her career came back in May of 2015 when she was defeated by talented Argentinian Erica Anabella Farias. Despite her credible resume, Svensson ha campaigned most of her career at smaller weight classes and the sports books are not giving her much of a chance. Heading over to Quebec City, Canada popular former super middleweight world champion Lucian Bute (32-3-1) tests the waters at light heavyweight as he faces undefeated Eleider Alvarez (21-0). Bute is 0-1-1 in his last two fights which were for 168 pound world titles. Bute also tested positive for a banned substance and served a suspension, so he is looking at fighting after a ten month layoff. Moving up a weight class may prevent Bute from suffering a drastic weight cut but it should be said that he is jumping into deep waters with Alvarez. The Colombian transplant has fought his entire career in Canada and is a top 10 ranked fighter at 175 pounds. Alvarez is looking for a win over Bute to put him into the title picture and you can be sure a win for Bute would put him right in the mix with the top contenders at light heavyweight. The last few fights for Bute were grinding ones while Alvarez at 32 years old has the type of “time is now” hunger that make him very dangerous to a veteran. Welterweight 10 rounds – The Spectrum – Oslo, Norway Klara Svensson +1500 Cecilia Braekhus -3000 Light Heavyweight 12 rounds – Centre Videotron – Quebec, Canada Lucian Bute +200 Eleider Alvarez -240 —– Click below to bet the fights now! 
International Boxing Odds For Friday Feb 24
