Boxing: Joseph Parker v Anthony Joshua attracts early betting attention

The Joseph Parker and Anthony Joshua fight has captured the early attention of the betting public. Photo / Photosport

The Joseph Parker-Anthony Joshua fight has captured the attention of the betting public like few other events, having attracted as much early betting action as the TAB has ever seen for this bout.

The punters certainly wasted no time in showing their support for Joe, who opened as a $7 outsider at the TAB. Within a month of the fight being confirmed and the book opening there had already been 11 wagers of over $1000 placed on Parker, including bets of $10,000 and $4900. The enormous amount of early money coming in on Parker has caused his price to shorten to $5.50.

While at one stage there was more than 100 times as much money riding on a Parker victory as a Joshua win, momentum has swung somewhat in recent days with a $5000 wager on Joshua headlining a recent surge in support for the Brit.

Surprisingly the support for Parker has not been as strong in other markets available for this fight. Joshua by Decision is by far the most popular choice with the punters in the Method of Victory market with almost twice as much money coming in on that option than either Parker by KO or Decision. The largest individual wager placed on this market is a $4000 stake on Joshua by Decision and there have been multiple other four digit bets on that option. As a result the odds for Joshua to claim the first victory of his career by decision have shortened slightly from $6 to $5.50.

Punters are also not expecting to see a short fight in Cardiff. One of the more lopsided markets, other than the Head to Head book, is the 'Will the Fight go the Distance' options where over 20 times as much money has been wagered on the yes option at $4.75 as opposed to the short priced no at $1.15

However there is some optimism among Parker backers for a quick win in the 'Pick the Round' market as Parker wins in round 1 is currently the most popular option with punters. Joshua's last two victories have come late in fights with his brutal uppercut knocking out Wladimir Klitschko in the 11th round of their bout and the referee awarding him a TKO victory over Carlos Takam in the 10th round of his most recent fight. This trend continuing would also be a popular option with punters as round nine is currently the most bet on option for a Joshua stoppage.

Big Bets for Anthony Joshua v Joseph Parker

•$10,000 on Parker Head to Head at $5.50
•$5000 on Joshua Head to Head at $1.12
•$4910 on Parker Head to Head at $5.50
•$4000 on Joshua by Decision at $6.00
•$1500 on a Draw at $26

Parker Historic Fight Odds

Coming into the bout with a perfect 24-0 record, including 18 knockouts, it's fair to say Joseph Parker has an impressive professional boxing record.

We take a look through the TAB's Head to Head odds for Parker across his professional career.

Here are some facts and betting figures from Joe Parker's road to a world title fight:

•The longest price Parker has started is $1.65 his his last fight with Hughie Fury
•He has started longer than $1.25 just four times
•Parker has started shorter than $1.10 in 14 fights with betting not offered in a further three
•Parker's average price in the 21 fights there has been betting on is $1.13
•His price of $1.01 against Solomon Haumono is his shortest price
•His last three fights where he has started $1.25 or longer have gone to the judges

Joseph Parker Fight By Fight Odds:

$1.07 v Dean Garmonsway - 5 July 2012
Win - Round two TKO

N/A v Terry Tuteru - 9 November 2012
Win - Round two KO

$1.09 v Richard Tutaki - 15 December 2012
Win - Round three TKO

N/A v Dontay Pati - 28 February 2013
Win - Round one TKO

N/A v Brice Ritani-Coe - 16 May 2013
Win - Unanimous decision

$1.25 v Francois Botha - 13 June 2013
Win - Round two TKO

$1.05 v Afa Tatupu - 10 October 2013
Win - Round two KO

$1.18 v Marcelo Luiz Nascimento - 26 April 2014
Win - Round seven TKO

$1.25 v Brian Minto - 5 July 2014
Win - Round seven TKO

$1.02 v Keith Thompson - 9 August 2014
Win - Round three TKO

$1.10 v Sherman Williams - 16 October 2014
Win - Unanimous decision

$1.10 v Irineu Beato Costa Junior - 6 December 2014
Win - Round 4 KO

$1.05 v Jason Pettaway - 5 March 2015
Win - Round 4 TKO

$1.04 v Yakup Saglam - 13 June 2015
Win - Round 2 KO

$1.07 v Bowie Tupou - 1 August 2015
Win - Round one KO

$1.05 v Kali Meehan - 15 October 2015
Win - Round three TKO

$1.03 v Daniel Martz - 5 December 2015
Win - Round one TKO

$1.02 v Jason Bergman - 23 January 2016
Win - Round eight TKO

$1.25 v Carlos Takam - 21 May 2016
Win - Unanimous decision

$1.01 v Solomon Haumono - 21 July 2016
Win - Round four TKO

$1.10 v Alexander Dimitrenko - 1 October 2016
Win - Round three KO

$1.30 v Andy Ruiz Jr. - 10 December 2016
Win - Majority decision

$1.02 v Razvan Cojanu - 6 May 2017
Win - Unanimous decision

$1.65 v Hughie Fury - 23 September 2017
Win - Majority decision

$5.50 v Anthony Joshua - 31 March 2018

-TAB