Big money on Hopkins; small bets on De La Hoya

Friday, Sept. 17, 2004 | 9:54 a.m.

The sports book at the MGM Grand will likely take several individual $100,000 bets on this weekend's fight -- and those six-figure wagers will be on favored Bernard Hopkins, not the underdog Oscar De La Hoya.

Robert Walker, director of race and sports book operations for MGM-Mirage, said he expects professional bettors to come in heavy on Hopkins, but said their action will be balanced out by "tens of thousands" of much smaller wagers on De La Hoya.

"Every $5 and $10 bettor in the world is going to be on De La Hoya," Walker said Thursday. "We expect to see nothing but underdog money from the public bettors.

"I don't think we'll take any six-figure bets on De La Hoya."

Hopkins is a minus 220 favorite in Saturday's middleweight championship fight at the MGM; De La Hoya is a plus 180 underdog. (Bettors must lay $2.20 for each $1 they're trying to win on Hopkins. De La Hoya backers would win $1.80, plus their original stake, for each $1 they bet.)

Walker said thanks in large part to De La Hoya's tremendous popularity among fans and bettors, the fight is shaping up as this year's "Super Bowl of boxing" for sports books.

"With the heavyweight division in disarray, we don't have the real big fights in Las Vegas like we used to," Walker said. "After this, there are no really big fights on the horizon that everyone is talking about it. This one is it."

Hopkins-De La Hoya figures to command more betting interest than any bout since the second meeting between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield in 1997, Walker said.

Just how big an impact is the Hopkins-De La Hoya fight expected to have on Las Vegas betting shops?

Look at it this way: The MGM-Mirage group of sports books will take "six figures" worth of action -- that is, between $100,000 and $999,999 -- on each of Sunday's 15 National Football League games, Walker said.

The handle on the fight will exceed the total amount of money wagered on all 15 NFL games put together, he said.

"And 90 percent of that money will be coming in on the two days leading up to the fight," that is, today and Saturday, Walker said.

In the NFL, the sports book, or "the house," usually ends up rooting for the underdog to cover the point spread in any given game, because the betting public tends to put its money on the team that's favored.

In major boxing matches, the opposite is true, Walker said. The "public" -- meaning casual, recreational gamblers, or the little guy -- invariably backs the underdog in marquee fights.

"It's similar to most Super Bowls," Walker said. "The public might lay points with the favorite, but they love to bet the underdog on the money line (to win outright)."

To help balance the books on the Hopkins-De La Hoya fight, Walker said he can always turn to professional bettors in town -- a group he refers to as "a necessary evil, with the emphasis on evil" -- eager to bet big on the favorite.

"Normally I have disdain for professional bettors," Walker said. "They're trying to take our money."

But professional bettors -- Walker is too refined to call them "wise guys" -- do provide a valuable service, he said, as their action can hammer a betting line into its proper place.

On an average fight, Walker said, the maximum wager his properties accept is $3,000. For Hopkins-De La Hoya, he raised the limit to $10,000, although that figure applies only to professional bettors. For high-rolling hotel guests, big casino gamblers, the sky is the limit.

"There's so much interest in this fight that I have people calling up asking how much we'll let them bet on Hopkins," Walker said.

The principals: Oscar De La Hoya (37-3, 29 KOs) vs. Bernard Hopkins (44-2-1, 31 KOs).

Site/time: MGM Grand Garden Arena, 8 p.m. Saturday.

At stake: Undisputed world middleweight championship. Hopkins has the IBF, WBA and WBC belts; De La Hoya has the WBO belt.

TV: HBO Pay-Per-View, $54.95 suggested retail.

Tickets: $350 to $1,700.

Closed-circuit locations/price: MGM Grand, Mirage, Bellagio, Plaza, Golden Nugget, San Remo, Gold Coast, Sapphire's, the Beach. $50.

Schedule: Today, 3 p.m. -- official weigh-in (open to public) at MGM Grand Garden Arena; Saturday, 4 p.m. -- doors open; 4:15 p.m. -- first bout; 6 p.m. -- live on pay per view; 8 p.m. (approx.) -- main event.

Betting line: Hopkins minus 220; De La Hoya plus 180. Will go 12 full rounds, minus 155; won't go, plus 135. De La Hoya by KO, 9-2; De La Hoya by decision, 5-2; Hopkins by KO, 13-10; Hopkins by decision, 3-2; draw, 12-1.

Purse: Hopkins to receive at least $10 million; De La Hoya to receive about $30 million.

Referee: Kenny Bayless.

Judges: Keith Macdonald, Dave Moretti, Paul Smith (all from Nevada).

Undercard: Juan Manuel Marquez (42-2-1, 33 KOs) vs. Orlando Salido (23-8-1, 15 KOs) in a featherweight championship fight, plus five other scheduled bouts.

Undercard betting line: Marquez minus 1500; Salido plus 1000.