The bookies were in favor of Joshua because people were more familiar with him and that greatly influenced on the odds. The bookies made odds to look like a Joshua is a clearly favorite in the fight. But in reality all the odds must be identical.
I've read and watched dozen of boxing specialists reviews. All of them were saying there is no clear underdog and a favorite, and all of them added that Usyk is a very, very inconvenient opponent.
I am even sure, people who made bet, are not even familiar who Usyk is. AJ - huge, heavy, knocked out Klitchko, has titles. People are familiar with boxers from kings weight - heavyweight division. Who is that cruiserweight from Ukrain that want to face champ? No idea. That what majority thought. If we ask people who is champion in cruiser or light heavy, people will just shrug.
The bookmakers know of Usyk he holds a title in the cruiser weight division and I think everyone knew that he was a good fighter. Bellew talked about it before the match and how good he is. The bookmakers have all the experts and they consult with the professionals too. Usyk is a special boxer and the only person I see competing with him is Fury and Fury has the height and weight advantage more then Joshua. I do not see Joshua winning the rematch I know he has activiated it and they are expected to fight next year but I cannot see a way that he wins unless he gets a lucky punch. Usyk moves a lot and keeps his head moving all the time Joshua would need to time it perfectly to have a chance. He will never outbox him Usyk is the superior boxer. Fury and Usyk is a exciting match up that no one was thinking about a year ago. Hopefully Fury beats Wilder because Wilder vs Usyk would be a disappointment I think with Usyk winning every round.