The lines for the big fights this weekend, like Atlantic City’s Bernard Hopkins vs Sergey Kovalev bout or the all-German slugfest between Robert Steiglitz and Felix Sturm, have been up at the books for a while now, but with the fights now just hours away, Several Bookmakers has posted a good bit of lines for today (Saturday, November 8, 2014). Take a look at some of the details. Porsche Arena (Germany) The main event features Robert Steiglitz and Felix Sturm in their catch-weight bout that is practically a pick ’em fight at the books. Also on the card but not available at the books yet is the WBA World Female Flyweight bout between Susi Kentikian and Naoko Fujioka, The line that has popped up at the books is for the Heavyweight bout between Ivica Bacurin, who is a big underdog at (+2500), and Francesco Pianeta, who pays back (-7500). This bout is for the WBO European Heavyweight title, and though Pianeta is Italian, he resides in Germany and is expected to win his third fight in a row here since his TKO loss to Champion Wladimir Klitschko. The Glow, Bluewater (UK) – Heavyweights The books put up a line for the BBBofC Light Heavyweight title bout between Brits Bob Ajisafe and Travis Dickinson. That match features an extremely competitive line at the books, and you can expect the main event for the vacant EU Light Weltyerweight title between Chaquib Fadli and Lenny Daws to pop up at the books as well. Added in the last 24 hours is a line for the Heavyweight bout between American Eddie Chambers (-7500) and Brazilian Marcelo Luz Nascimento (+2500). Chambers, who has a fine (39-4) resume has come back and gone (3-0) in 2014, fighting in the UK where he is hoping to cash in and get a big fight with Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua or the like. Chambers, who went into the 12th round with Wladimir Klitschko before being stopped and went 12 full rounds with Tomasz Adamek, might even have his sites set on bigger paydays than that, as another shot at Klitschko is still on his mind. Events Center (Pharr, Texas) A pair of 10-rounders headline Top Rank’s Pharr, Texas show this weekend. At Lightweight, (26-1) Diego Magdaleno is a huge favorite (-7500) over Hevinson Herrera, who pays back (+2500). For Magdaleno, he is going to have to be weary of a letdown, since he has been tied to a fight with Michael Farenas, and also he had appeared to be set to face interim WBA World Super Featherweight titlist Bryan Vasquez on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao vs Chris Algieri, but none of those fight maaterialized. At Super Bantamweight, Mexican Jose Cen Torres is a big underdog (+3000) to Chris Avalos (-11000). Cen Torres, a tested veteran who comes to fight, is (2-5) over his last 7 bouts, while Avalos has put together a good five-fight winning streak since he dropped a contested Split Decision to Jhonathan Romero back in December of 2011. Sands Casino (Bethlehem, PA) – Heavyweights The Heavyweight bout between Fred Kassi (+2500) and popular 42 year old Amir Mansour (-7500) has a line for it. Mansour, a solid puncher who has maintained a (20-1) record and KO’d his opponents more than 70% of the time, recently went 10 rounds in his lone loss to Steve Cunningham. For his part, Kassi has maintained a solid (18-2) record, but his competition level has been mainly in the south region and a notch below that of Mansour’s. No lines up yet for two other one unders on this card, promoted by Kathy Duva and J Russell Peltz. Of much more interest oin the card is the presence of Light Heavyweight Vasily Lepikhin (16-0) and Welterweight Dmitry Mikhaylenko (17-0). Both undefeated Russians have fought most of their careers overseas (in fact, this is Lepikhin’s USA debut) and are coming over here with serious intent of moving their careers forward. Should lines hit, they are likely to be steep favorites, but both rate as fighters to watch.
