It is almost certainly boxing’s strangest heavyweight showdown of the year, and the odds reflect it with only one sportsbook offering odds for Mahmoud Charr vs Christopher Lovejoy.
Christopher Lovekjoy is a boxing unicorn – a big man that virtually nobody has ever seen fight. But one with an unbeaten record spiced up with a 100% KO ratio.
The 37-year-old has fought 19 times so far and has 19 victories inside distance. All of those fights – yes every single one – took place in Tijuana, Mexico.
It’s highly unlikely that even if you are a seasoned fight geek you’ll have heard of any of the men Lovejoy has disposed of so far – only one of them had a winning record when he met ‘Pretty Boy’ – the rest not even close to that.
Lovejoy has attempted to move up in class before – he was due to fight British warhorse David Allen on the Oleksandr Usyk vs Dereck Chisora undercard in London last October.
Lovejoy duly arrived in the UK for the biggest fight of his life, but never got as far as the ring when promoter Don King threatened legal action saying he had Lovejoy under contract.
According to social media this week, the King vs Lovejoy war of words continues, with Lovejoy claiming King is again trying to stop his fight with Charr happening. Lovejoy also claims he has filed for bankruptcy and is no longer affiliate with King.
When Christopher arrived in Germany (the fight is due to take place in Cologne Saturday night) he did so with little fanfare. And without any sort of entourage – no trainer, no cutman, no nothing. Nada.
To top all of this craziness off, until late Friday this bout was apparently being sanctioned for the WBA regular world heavyweight title. Charr apparently is what the sanctioning body calls its ‘champion in recess’.
Well Charr appears to have been in recess for quite a while – almost four years to be exact since his last bout back in 2017.
At least the 36-year-old, born in Lebanon but now resident in Germany, has a respectable record at 31-4, with some names we’ve heard of. It’s a massive step for Lovejoy, a man who has only gone past the first round twice in a 19-fight career.
Lovejoy has been entertaining the boxing Twitter crowd this week with regular updates, and you can’t help rooting for the big man. He’s so big by the way that he tipped the scales at a whopping 306lbs at Friday’s weigh-in.
Latest news out of Germany – and these are the very definition of confused and conflicting – claims the bout is no longer for the WBA title and is now a mere 10-rounder.
Either way OddsCritic is more than interested in the craziness evolving in Cologne – we just want to see if these guys actually exist.
Only one online bookmaker in the U.S. is offering odds on the fight – bet365 goes -800 Charr and +450 Lovejoy. So if you do like the chance of a fairytale upset, you can bet $100 to win $450.
What time does Charr vs Lovejoy start?
The action will go down at Box Gym in Cologne – not the world’s most famous fight venue. The weigh-in Friday looked like it was taking place in a budget room in a Holiday Inn.
Ring walks for the main event are expected between 2200 and 2300 local time (1600 and 1700 ET) – until then, the world awaits. Who knows what we’ll get to see, or even if the fight goes ahead. But either way, sign us up for more Lovejoy drama.
Is Charr vs Lovejoy on TV?
You can watch the fight Saturday night, but it’s not easy. You’ll need to take out a month subscription for German outlet Bild+ for Euro 3.99.