Several Bookmakers has posted lines on two events scheduled for this Friday, September 26th. The first is from Krasnodor, Russia and features all-time great Roy Jones Jr defending his World Boxing Union Cruiserweight title against Egyptian Hany Atiyo. Right now, the 45-year old Jones is heavily favored at (-1350) with the comeback on Atiyo at (+650). Jones, once considered the best pound for pound fighter in the world is now long past his prime. A loss against Denis Lebedev back in May of 2011 was his third defeat in a row and signaled the end of his run among the upper echelon of the sport. Rather than retire however, Jones has accepted less than elite competition and he has won four straight bouts, becoming a bit of a commodity in Eastern Europe where he has headlined in Poland, Russia and Latvia. The promoter of this fight is reporting a sell out, and Jones is looking to keep on winning and looking to keep on cashing in paychecks. Despite the drop in caliber of competition, Jones has looked every bit his age in some of those fights. This includes a questionable split decision win over Pavel Glazewski, where Jones was dropped in the 6th and was given the win by two judges despite most observers assessing the match for the Polish fighter. Atiyo has 10 KOs in 14 wins, but is considered yet another drop off in level of competition for Jones. The second line added at Several Bookmakers takes us to Mesquite, Texas and a fine bantamweight bout between Anselmo “Chemito” Moreno and Juan Carlos Payano. The match is the fifth defense of the WBA Super World Bantamweight title for Moreno, who is favored at (-245) with Payano returning at (+175). Both men have already made weight in Texas, and the match is official. Payano is an undefeated (15-0) as pro and he boasts an extensive amateur career that saw him win multiple medals against international competition, but as a professional, he has not met a fighter with the pedigree of Anselmo. Anselmo is a year younger and an inch taller. Anselmo counts on four more inches in reach than Payano, and “Chemito” and has a wide advantage in experience over his Dominican opponent. Payano brings certain intangibles, such as innate toughness which matches that of his opponent as well as the fact that he is a southpaw, but the line reflects Moreno being the more complete of the two fighters. The promotion is run by Garry Jonas for Mike Tyson, who was in attendance and served as MC for the weigh ins, so they are attempting to get as much attention as possible for what has the potential to be a terrific fight. While this is the biggest fight in the career of Payano, Moreno is thinking about a re-match with rival Abner Mares that would attract a lot of attention. The books waited to post these lines until after news of the weigh ins was official, and that is understandable as any issues with the weigh-ins could not only affect the line, but could lead to the match being cancelled outright. Be on the lookout for more lines to pop up for Saturday’s fights after the Friday weigh-ins for those events.
