Tuesday, April 28, 2015 | 2 a.m.
More Coverage
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- Dispute resolved over Mayweather-Pacquiao fight tickets
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- Is Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s loyalty to MGM strong enough to extend career to open new arena?
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- The Sun's Mayweather-Pacquiao section
If Manny Pacquiao beats Floyd Mayweather Jr. Saturday in their highly anticipated welterweight fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, gamblers will likely turn a profit from Nevada sports books.
And if Mayweather and Pacquiao fight to a draw, an outcome conspiracy theorists predict because it could trigger a rematch of even more over-the-top-hype, one bettor would pocket almost $1 million. Last Saturday, a $100,000 wager was placed at William Hill U.S. at plus-950 on the draw. The draw opened at 18-to-1.
“There will be a lot of draw money (bet) all over town,” said Nick Bogdanovich, the William Hill U.S. director of trading
Mayweather is currently a minus-200 favorite, meaning bettors would have to wager $200 to win $100. Pacquiao is at plus-175, or $100 to win $175, and is drawing a majority of the action. At William Hill, 67-percent of the total money and 82-percent of the total tickets written have been on Pacquiao.
“Pacquiao is super, super popular and Floyd is not well liked (by the general public),” Bogdanovich said. “People always bet the underdog in the big fights. They want to get the biggest bang for their buck.”
The fight is expected to go a full 12 rounds with the total round prop of over-under 11.5 rounds a heavy favorite at minus-330. Ninety-seven percent of money wagered on the round total at William Hill has been on the fight to go the distance.
Mayweather is plus-700 to win by knockout and minus-125 to win by decision. Pacquiao is plus-400 to win by knockout and +370 by decision.
“This fight is a once in 25 or 30 years type of deal. The money (wagered) supports that,” Bogdanovich said.
The handle statewide is expected to be in the $40 million range — everything from five and six figure wagers, to recreational gamblers wagering $20.
“It really depends on the big bets,” Bogdanovich said of the handle. “Everyone will have a ticket on them, whether its $20 or $100,000. We expect it to be crazy on Friday and Saturday.”
Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21
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