As March carries on, fans are pumped to see an Irish-British rumble several years in the making. In this article, we have our Featherweight Boxing Picks for March 12th’s WBA Title Fight between Michael Conlan and Leigh Wood. This will be televised on DAZN at 2:00 pm ET from Nottingham England (Motorpoint Arena). Who will be able to win and claim their first significant crown?
The betting table presented below is from some of the best online boxing betting sites.
The first question boxing fans ask is just what the heck is going on with the Featherweight Division? It is a division set for fighters just below the lightweight division right from 122-126 pounds. The Featherweight limit is 126 pounds and sometimes boxers can have a tough time making this weight. Usually, most fighters move up ultimately to that lightweight division as a springboard.
The key word is going here. For example. Michael Conlan has not fought since early August. That was for the interim WBA featherweight title. The confusion lies in the fact that the “super world” belt has not been contested for in three years. Leo Santo Cruz has not defended this belt. It is pretty crazy when one thinks about that. The last time Santo Cruz defended his belt was a year before COVID broke out.
The featherweight division is a bit of a riddle wrapped in an enigma for a division. Both Leigh Wood and Michael Conlan agreed to this in order to make a title bout finally happen for this belt. Conlan remains a featherweight boxing favorite as his numbers continue to shorten.
Now, the reality is, this featherweight fight is a setup for an eventual unified Welterweight title shot. The problem is, because of COVID, few of these fighters are willing to fight much less merge the belts into one. Conlan last fought on August 6th of last year. He was able to hurt T.J. Doheny often enough and scored a unanimous decision.
Michael Conlan’s biggest problem is complacency. He did fight twice in 2021 even with COVID waves. The fighter also won by majority division over Ionut Baluta. Baluta did hurt Conlan a couple of times before Conlan bounced back with a vengeance. The fighter fights in the United Kingdom and has dabbled In the super-bantamweight division. He won against the aforementioned Baluta.
This is where the Boxing Odds arguments begin. Naturally, no one quite knows what will happen in this fight because truthfully no one really knows. The hints that even a “lesser” fighter like Wood could cause trouble is an ominous sign.
It is understandable why Michael Conlan remains the favorite. Other than Leo Santo Cruz, Conlan is probably the class of this decision. At the least, he is one of the brighter boxing prospects in the featherweight division. The Irish boxer has eight wins and eight decisions. He is scrappy but not the most powerful of fighters in this weight class.
Therefore, Conlan has been quiet about his training but not much about anything else. The expectation is to see a more composed and measured fighter at first. Then, the boxer should be able to unleash his arsenal of combinations on Khan. Conlan is 16-0 with eight knockouts for a reason. He definitely has some issues trying to close out fights and can get caught in precarious positions.
The fighter looks ready to get in the ring this second. This is why he is our featherweight boxing picks choice for this fight.
Ahead of the bout this Saturday, the featherweight bop Vegas boxing odds are out and they favor Wood less. Leigh Wood comes in around +135 and +145, while Conlan’s numbers shortened very slightly. Despite the Omicron wave of COVID, this fight is still on track to take place this Saturday evening, March 12th.
As for the previous history, the fighters do not have one. Part of that is probably due to their age. Both are in their 30’s but Wood is 33. It seems hard to believe but that is true. Wood comes in with a record of 25-2 with 15 knockouts. He has won his previous fights by TKO. The TKO versus Xu Can came with just 17 seconds left in the bout. Wood was ahead on the scorecards.
The problem for Khan is all the mountain training, the boxing rituals, and the sparring do not compare to fighting upper-echelon talent. Brook, even at his age, is still a step up from Billy Dib. As this featherweight fight approaches, all the talk and the bravado goes away the instant he gets struck with a heavy shot.
This could be a bit of a challenge for Wood. The longer this fight goes, the more it favors Conlan. Wood needs to get after this fight early against Conlan. Even if that means getting hit to hit back. Wood needs to make this into more of a street fight. Conlan may have issues if Wood puts the pressure on early and often.
For featherweight boxing picks, our top bet is choosing Michael Conlan for his ability to push back.
The featherweight boxing odds say take Conlan to step up and win the bout on March 12th but look towards a likely decision here.
See below the best online betting sites, like BetOnline, where you can put money down on the best option(s) for you:
