Boxing Betting This Week | Rodriguez takes on Vargas, Fight Trends & Market Watch | June, 2026

by Daniel Feliciano

Updated: June 1, 2026

A huge bantamweight world title fight between Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez and Antonio Vargas is the standout event of the month of June, when the two go head-to-head June 13th in Glendale, Arizona. Vargas comes into the fight as champion, but is a huge +900 underdog against the undefeated Rodriguez, who is priced as a major -2500 favorite.

We’ll also see a big cruiserweight fight between Chris Billam-Smith and the excellent Ryan Rozicki, with the British star a -400 favorite against a +250 underdog, who has just one defeat on his professional record.

Below, we’ll take a look at the biggest boxing storylines for the month, some of the odds movement, and the best angles that bettors should be paying attention to heading into the end of June. For more boxing betting, check out our Boxing Betting Guide, which contains all the information needed for betting on the sport, as well as guides for the best boxing betting sites around.

The biggest betting storylines this month

• The big fight of the month will see the WBA Bantamweight championship of the world on the line when Antonio Vargas defends his crown against the undefeated Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez. Vargas is on an 11-fight undefeated run, although he drew his last fight against Daigo Higa, to move his professional record to 19-1-1, with 11 knockouts. Rodriguez, on the other hand, is 23-0 with 16 knockouts in his career, and earned this shot at a world title in a third weight class with a dominant knockout win over Fernando Martinez back in November 2025.
• Former WBO Cruiserweight champion Chirs Billam-Smith will make his Zuffa Boxing debut when he takes on exciting the exciting Ryan Rozicki. Smith comes into the fight with a 21-2 record (13 KO’s), having defeated Brandon Glanton via unanimous decision in April last year. Rozicki holds a 21-1-1 record with 20 knockouts, and stopped Gerardo Mellado in March of this year following a near 15-month layoff.
• Elsewhere, Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis returns to the ring and puts his undefeated 35-0-1 record on the line when he takes on Xander Zayas for the unified WBA and WBO super welterweight world championships. Boots stopped Uisma Lima in the first-round in his last bout, while Zayas maintained his perfect career record, moving to 23-0, when he claimed a split decision win over Abass Baraou back in Janaury.
• Floyd Mayweather Jr will step into the ring in an exhibition fight ahead of his clash with Manny Pacquiao later this year, when he takes on kickboxing legend Mike Zambidis on June 27th.
• The IBF Super Flyweight championship will also be contested when Willbaldo Garcia defends his belt against Andrew Maloney on June 6th.

Biggest futures, outright and win total moves this month

There has been some significant movement in the betting markets for boxing this month, and this is a closer look at some of the action worth tracking for bettors.

• Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury

Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are currently scheduled to have their highly-anticipated rematch on September 25th, 2026 in Las Vegas. Mayweather has opened as a -250 favorite, while Pacquiao is priced at +189. Mayweather won their first fight by unanimous decision back in May 2015.

After initially opening as a -170 favorite, Fury moved out to -180 following the announcement. However, that has now been reigned back in, which has seen ‘The Gypsy King’ drop to -162 with some bookies. Joshua, on the other hand, initially opened at +130, which pushed out to +150 recently, ahead of his return to the ring against Albanian heavyweight Kristian Prenga in July.

The bout is still without an official date, but if everything goes to plan, it’s expected to take place in November, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

• Jaron Ennis to become undisputed super welterweight champ?

‘Boots’ will return to the ring and add to his already incredible legacy by trying to become an undisputed champion in a second weight class when he challenges Xander Zayas for the super welterweight titles.

Ennis previously held the IBF, WBA, and The Ring welterweight crowns but vacated to move up. When this fight was initially announced, he was priced at around -300 to get the job done. But he has been backed heavily, and with the fight to take place on June 27th, he is now as short as -400 with some bookies.

Zayas’ professional record stands at 23-0, and he has seen his price drop considerably in recent weeks too. The champion opened as a +330 underdog, but has now been backed in to +250 to continue his unbbeaten run.

• Billam-Smith set for real test vs Rozicki

A big cruiserweight fight between Chris Billam-Smith and Ryan Rozicki will take place on June 6th, and the betting odds tell you that this will be a close one.

Smith opened as the -345 favorite to claim success in his Zuffa Boxing debut, with the powerful Rozicki priced at +250. But with the fight approaching, the Brit has shortened to around -400 due to his safety-first style of fighting. Rozicki, on the other hand, has drifted slightly to +275, with some bettors noting his incredible knockout record as a reason to believe he could land an upset.

Futures market check

Looking forward to future matchups in the world of boxing, there are some interesting lines beginning to appear on the market.

• Anthony Joshua (-2800) vs Kristian Prenga (+1700)

After it was announced that Anthony Joshua will return to the ring in July to take on Prenga, his first fight since demolishing Jake Paul in December and then being involved in a fatal car crash, bettors have jumped on the odds for the fight.

Joshua opened as a -4000 favorite favorite against the relatively unknown Albanian, but he has since shortened. He dropped to -3300 last month, and now can be backed at -2800, with some believing he could be past his best. Interestingly, though, Prenga’s price has also drifted. After initially opening at +1000, he is now as high as +1700 with some bookies.

• Tyson Fury (-180) vs Anthony Joshua (+150)

It’s fair to say that this is arguably the biggest fight planned for the remainder of 2026, and it’s no surprise to see some betting action despite there being no official date yet. Fury opened as a -140 favorite but is now priced as short as -180 in some places, following his win over Arslanbek Makhmudov. Joshua, alternatively, started as a +110 underdog, but is now as wide as +150, providing great value should you back him to come out on top.

That price is likely to change again after his aforementioned bout in July, while there is talk that Fury could also fight within a few weeks of that bout to stay sharp ahead of this bout.

• Jesse Rodriguez (-2500) vs Antonio Vargas (+1025)

While Vargas comes into this fight as the defending champion, there aren’t many who are giving him a hope of leaving as champion. Vargas initially opened as a huge +900 underdog, but that hasn’t put people off betting on Rodriguez to come out on top, and he has drifted out to +1025 as a result.

Rodriguez, meanwhile, opened as a big -2000 favorite, but the action on him has seen that pushed out to -2500, as he looks to stretch his undefeated record and become the undisputed champion.

✅ DONE DEAL ✅

🥊 Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua
📆 Q4, 2026
📺 Netflix pic.twitter.com/tgxb9VDMQB

— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) April 27, 2026

What could move odds before next month’s update

It’s possible that there could be some official fight announcements coming in the near future.

• Gervonta Davis and Shakur Stevenson continue to find themselves on a path to a fight against one another, and an official announcement could see big movement in the betting market.
• Reuters reported on May 26, 2026 that Tyson Fury indicated he would return on August 1 in Dublin before a planned November fight with Anthony Joshua. Any injury or poor performance in that interim bout could shift the betting toward AJ.
• Ryan Garcia and Conor Benn are set to clash in September in a mega bout for the WBC Welterweight title, but any antics outside of the ring from either fighter, with both having failed drugs tests in recent years, could make for interesting footnotes when making your picks.
• Dmitry Bivol returned to the ring last month to defend his crown with a comfortable decision victory against Michael Eifert. All eyes have since turned to what comes next, with a bout against long-time rival Artur Beterbiev tipped.However, there has now been reports that a mega fight with fellow light heavyweight champion David Benavidez could instead take place later this year, in a clash for the undisputed crown. Benavidez only holds one of the five available belts in the division, but at 29 and as an undefeated fighter, he is expected to enter the fight as the favorite once betting odds are released and a fight is announced.

Any major injuries in training could also affect odds for the fights, should the bouts be delayed as a result.

Previous betting news updates

• [May 2026]: Oleksandr Usyk controversially defeated Ric Verhoeven in their heavyweight title fight in Egypt via 11th round knockout.
• [May 2026]: Tyson Fury has hinted that he will fight in Dublin in August in a warm-up bout before his clash with Anthony Joshua later this year.
• [May 2026]: Amand Serrano equalled the all-time knockout record for a women’s fighter with a second round stoppage over Cheyenne Hanson.
• [May 2026]: Dmitry Bivol’s trilogy fight with Artur Beterbiev could take place in Russia, after he dominated Michael Eifert.