We get a 12-round WBO light flyweight title bout Saturday when Elwin Soto and Katsunari Takayama meet at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The undercard is set to begin at 8 p.m. ET, with the Soto-Takayama fight set for approximately 10 p.m. ET. Below, we break down the Soto vs. Takayama odds, with boxing picks and predictions. The fight card is televised on DAZN.
Soto vs. Takayama: Fight odds
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Elwin Soto -1000 (bet $1,000 to win $100) | Katsunari Takayama +700 (bet $100 to win $700) | Draw +2000
Soto has an implied win probability of 90.91% with the -1000 money line odds. Those odds can be expressed as a fraction of 1/10 or a decimal of 1.10.
Soto vs. Takayama: Tale of the tape
Elwin Soto (-1000)
Soto (18-1, 12 KOs) is heavily favored to retain his WBO belt. He is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Carlos Buitrago in Indio, Calif., Oct. 30, 2020. Prior to that he recorded a first-round KO over Javier Alejandro Rendon in his hometown of Mexicali.
Five of his past seven fights ended inside the distance.
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Katsunari Takayama (+700)
Takayama (32-8, 12 KOs) registered a pair of decision victories over Riku Kano and Reiya Konishi in Japan. The 37-year-old fought Konishi after a four-and-a-half-year hiatus following a retirement.
He was sharp in pushing past Konishi, and now the former four-body world champ at 105 points get a crack at a belt. He will look to use his tremendous footwork to dance away from Soto and hang around, but facing a top-tier opponent like Soto will be very difficult.
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Soto vs. Takayama: Odds, predictions and picks
Soto (-1000) is terribly expensive on the 3-way line, as you cannot risk $100 to win just $10. That’s a silly wager over the long term, so let’s get specific.
Playing SOTO BY KO/TKO/TECHNICAL DECISION OR DQ (-225) is a much better play. Takayama was away from the game too long, and Soto is head and shoulders better than Konishi. In addition to the method of victory bet above, take a block of rounds to target Soto, too.
Play SOTO IN ROUND 6 (+1000), SOTO IN ROUND 7 (+1000) and SOTO IN ROUND 8 (+1000) for the win. Yes, you will lose two ends of the wager even if Soto wins between Rounds 6 and 8, but you’ll still be well ahead.
You could also decide to take SOTO IN ROUNDS 5-8 (+240) in the Round Group Betting 2 area to limit your risk, but it also limits your potential return.
If you want some action on this bout, place your wagers at BetMGM now. For more sports betting picks and analysis, visit SportsbookWire.com. Please gamble responsibly.
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