This Friday.. Has anybody else been watching the Shannon Courtenay Vs Rachel Ball odds? Has anybody had a bet? When this fight was made I raised an eyebrow, I'm not an expert on women's boxing, meaning I'm not watching every fight but I know enough to believe Ball has an excellent chance, I believed it was a huge step up for Courtenay and in my opinion Ball should be a favourite. Anyway, when the fight was made Ball was a very generous 3/1, I was really surprised and thought "well somebody knows something I don't".. maybe she has struggled with weight, training, not getting sparring, something had to be wrong, I was looking around for news but didn't find much, So anyway, I looked again a week later and Ball was 5/2, that was all I needed to see, so I got on, a decent bet to be fair, then a day later she's 9/4.. a couple of days after that she's 2/1. I look again tonight and she's 11/10 with Courtenay now 4/6. We are basically looking at a 50/50 in the bookmakers eyes, the way these odds are crashing I wouldn't be surprised if Ball was favourite at the first bell. I think Hearn might have made a mistake here, I wouldn't be surprised if Courtenay pulls out, this might have been a "cherry pick" gone very wrong. With odds tumbling like that must mean there have been a few very big bets on Ball and some decent ones also which means she must be fit, strong, in good shape and is coming to win. Again, I wouldn't be at all surprised if this one is called off for some reason, Courtenay isn't very good, doesn't punch very hard and was very lucky to a decision a while back. Anyway if Ball wins fridays, drinks are on N, I'll even throw in a pizza or two.
I seen one clip of Ball hitting the bag and i thought she looked like she could cause little Courtenay some real problems, height & reach advantage but lets see how good the jab and movement are. Nice wee bet though
If you actually look at Ball's record (as I did over a week ago) you will see she has actually faced, in the women's game, far far better opponents then Courtenay has. Not only that, her only loss was a close one. Courtenay really has not impressed me at all, it's probably also a lack of experience, however she gets hit far far too much. Check out the fight sjp17 put above, Courtenay was under all sorts of pressure and that girl literally looked like she'd been pulled from the street to fight. Courtenay strikes me as the kind of fighter who might land a shot and look great in destroying an opponent. However the minute she meets someone who can properly fight back I think you will see she has more holes to her game then Swiss cheese. I see her as the bully type in the ring. Check her opponents vs Ball's and there is no comparison. Just my opinion! Oh and I think Eddie knows what her level is.
I agree, this really did make me raise an eyebrow when it was announced, but the odds on Ball just had me over thinking it, I thought there must be something wrong with Ball, maybe the weight, maybe she hasn't trained well due to the pandemic, maybe no sparring, bascailly they know something we don't.. I just couldn't understand how Courtenay was the odds on favourite and Ball was a 3/1 shot. Ball is a former 3x World Kick Boxing Champion, she isn't going to fold under any pressure here. This should be light work in the mental department. You're right, Ball has fought better opponents, She has a single defeat away from home (Norway) against an unbeaten fighter in Katherina Thanderz who is still unbeaten and currently the Interim WBC Super Featherweight World Champion... Thanderz is also ranked 10 in the world on Boxrec... Ball lost in a competitive fight, the scorecards were a little wide in my opinion, I've watched the fight. Also that was basically at Lightweight I believe, Thanderz stepped on the scales heavy.. the form lines are glaring in my opinion. Anyway we will see, I believe Courtenay has bitten off more than she can chew here and Hearn has made a mistake.
Shannon is under no illusion that this is a big step up for her. All I can say is that she has looked really sharp in the gym and despite the hype and the social media following, you’ll not find a harder trainer than her.
Good luck to Shannon, itll be an interesting match up and what will be will be, defeat for either is'nt the end of the world.
I think it is the social media stuff that does me. Guessing you need to sell yourself which probably isnt a true reflection of yourself
I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true but she’s an absolute sweet heart. Humble as they come, lives in the gym and so willing to learn from those around her.
Can't believe they are still persisting with putting this women's boxing on televised sky shows. Well actually I can in todays world. But either way, what a rip off.
Watched a bit more of Ball, she doesn't seem to target the body and headhunts majority of the time. Could be a big factor going against her. How many rounds is the fight scheduled for?
