Imane Khelif Olympics Odds: Algerian star odds-on favourite for 66kg boxing gold medal on Friday

Algeria's Imane Khelif is the huge 1/7 favourite to overcome reigning world champion Yang Liu in the women's 66kg gold medal bout on Friday night.

Imane Khelif Olympic Boxing Odds

Women's 66kg Gold Medal Bout

(Odds will display when market is available)

At around 10pm on Friday night, one of the most highly anticipated boxing finals of the Paris 2024 Olympics takes place, as Imane Khelif battles Yang Liu for the gold medal in the women’s 66kg weight class.

Khelif enters the contest as the massive 1/7 favourite, but whilst the Algerian has been impressive throughout the games, the current price is truly extraordinary, in a final involving two elite athletes.

The flood of money on the 2022 World Championship silver medallist likely has more to do with headlines rather than her exploits in the ring, although that's not to say the 25-year-old has not been impressive; she has!

Khelif’s campaign started brightly as Angela Carini of Italy abandoned the bout after just 46 seconds. The No.5 seed then picked up a unanimous decision over, the Hungarian Luca Hanna Hamori to guarantee a medal.

In the semi-final, the Algerian battled Janjaem Suwannapheng, after the Thai had pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament by outpointing, reigning Olympic champion and favourite, Busenaz Surmeneli, in the previous stage.

Despite the faster feet and raids on the inside from her opponent, Khelif dominated by utilising her height and reach advantage; controlling the fight with her jab and straight right hand. A standing eight-count in the final round punctuated the dominance of the African.

This has been a far better Olympics for the Algerian, having fallen at the quarter-final stage three years ago, in Tokyo.

Yang Liu is the 4/1 underdog going in to the final, which is astounding given she is the reigning world champion at the weight.

Like her rival in the final, Liu has been in fine form over the past two weeks. The 32-year-old scored unanimous decision victories over Alcinda Lucas Dos Santos and Oshin Derieuw in the earlier rounds of the competition.

In the semi-final, the Chinese fighter faced Nien-Chin Chen, and despite the Chinese Taipei boxer being aggressive, Liu managed to utilise her tall, rangy, southpaw style to prevail on a majority decision.

The No.2 seed has aged like fine wine, having won gold at the Asian Games, as well the top prize at the World Championships, in recent years.

Given that both Khelif and Liu prefer to keep things at long range, this could be a cagey affair.

Both have similar height and reach which will negate their usual physical advantages over rivals, but perhaps the quicker hands and feet, combined with the greater experience of Liu will be telling.

Regardless of the outcome, this fight will be closer than the odds suggest.

All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.

Mark Mothershaw

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