Heavyweights are no longer boxing’s only big gambling draw

Friday, May 13, 2005 | 10:10 a.m.

12-round middleweight bout Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena (Odds from MGM Grand, subject to change)

Trinidad -185

Wright +165

Fight will go 12 full rounds -130

Fight won't go 12 full rounds +110

Propositions

Wright by KO 6-1

Wright by decision 5-2

Trinidad by KO 8-5

Trinidad by decision 3-2

Draw 15-1

(KO includes TKO, DQ)

Pick the fighter/KO round

WRIGHT

Round 1, 45-1

Round 2, 45-1

Round 3, 45-1

Round 4, 40-1

Round 5, 40-1

Round 6, 40-1

Round 7, 35-1

Round 8, 35-1

Round 9, 30-1

Round 10, 40-1

Round 11, 40-1

Round 12, 30-1

TRINIDAD

Round 1, 20-1

Round 2, 18-1

Round 3, 18-1

Round 4, 12-1

Round 5, 15-1

Round 6, 15-1

Round 7, 15-1

Round 8, 12-1

Round 9, 8-1

Round 10, 8-1

Round 11, 8-1

Round 12, 8-1

The MGM-Mirage sports book has already accepted several individual bets of $100,000 or more on Saturday's middleweight bout between Felix Trinidad and Winky Wright, race and sports book director Robert Walker said Thursday at the MGM Grand.

Walker expects to take "several million" dollars in wagers on the fight, scheduled for Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, which would place it among the most heavily bet non-heavyweight bouts of all-time.

Also generating a betting handle in that neighborhood were last September's middleweight title fight between Bernard Hopkins and Oscar De La Hoya, and the 1999 welterweight title fight between Trinidad and De La Hoya, Walker said.

The second heavyweight title fight between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, in 1997, attracted more money from gamblers, Walker said.

"I don't remember the last time we took so many six-figure bets so early, which bodes well for this one," Walker said.

Six-figure bets have come in on both fighters, Walker said.

Trinidad opened as a minus-150 favorite (wager $1.50 to win $1) at the MGM and was quickly bet up to minus-200, Walker said. More recently, big money came in on underdog Wright, driving the line on Trinidad down to minus-185. The line on Wright was plus-165, meaning bettors win $1.65, plus their original stake back, for each $1 they wager.

"We (oddsmakers) think we have Trinidad figured out pretty well, but Winky we don't," Walker said, pointing out that Wright was a plus-250 underdog in his first fight against Shane Mosley last year, then a minus-180 favorite in the rematch. Wright won both bouts. "Winky has the respect of boxing fans."

The over/under on how many rounds the fight will last was set at 12 -- the full distance -- at the MGM, and bettors are taking the "will go 12," Walker said.

The line on "will go" is minus-130; "won't go" is plus-110 at the MGM.

Walker expects professional gamblers to bet on Trinidad and recreational gamblers -- or the "public" -- to back Wright. So the MGM will issue many more betting tickets on Wright than Trinidad, although the average bet on Trinidad will be larger, Walker said.

"Every $10 bettor in the world will be on Wright," Walker said. "If you're only betting $10 or $20, it's natural to put it on the underdog instead of laying a price."

Walker said his book will not have a profit locked in by fight time and will almost certainly need one fighter or the other to win in order to make money on the bout.

"My gut feeling is we'll need Trinidad," he said, because the flood of public money will likely outweigh even the sizable wagers made by professional bettors. "But we could be at the mercy of the last bet, if somebody comes up and bets $300,000" right before the fight.

Heavyweight championship fights used to attract the most interest from bettors by far, Walker said, but that has changed in recent years with highly competitive matchups in the lighter weight divisions featuring stars such as Hopkins, Trinidad, De La Hoya, Mosley, Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera.

"There used to be a saying about the fight game -- as the heavyweights go, so boxing goes," Walker said. "But now it's the exact opposite. ... Even Barrera-Morales (who have fought three times, at super bantamweight, featherweight and super featherweight) was spectacular as far as (betting) handle goes and as far as excitement goes."