The day bettors, boxing fans and just about everyone around the world has been waiting for has finally come. The boxing match that has been billed as “The Fight Of The Century” between Floyd “Money” Mayweather and Manny “Pac Man Pacquiao” takes place tonight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
In this article we breakdown some important factors for each fighter as well as the latest odds for the match and some interesting prop bets that could be a valuable commodity for the betting community.
Mayweather, 38, comes into this battle with a perfect record of 47-0, with 26 KOs to his credit. His trainer happens to be is his father, Floyd Sr., who is primarily known as a defensive specialist.
Pacquiao, 36, enters this contest with a record of 57-5-2, including 38 KOs. The Filipino entrusts Freddie Roach as his cornerman. Roach is a seven-time trainer of the year and is primarily known as an offensive specialist.
The referee tabbed for the bout is Kenny Bayless, considered by many as the best in the business to police a fight. If you are wondering, Bayless has refereed seven Pacquiao fights compared to five for Mayweahter.
The ringside judges for this historical boxing match include, Burt Clements, Dave Moretti and Glenn Feldman. All three are well respected, but Moretti is the esteemed leader of this group.
Trusted sportsbooks have favored Mayweather in this long-awaited match – pricing him at a hefty -210 on the odds board. Pacquiao, meanwhile, holds tremendous value as bettors interested in backing the Filipino are rewarded with +170 if he can come away with a victory.
Additionally, the OVER/UNDER is coming in at 11 1/2 rounds, but you must lay -310 if you are leaning on the high side, while bettors willing to wager below the number receive a nice take back of +240.
Sportsbooks are offering +500 if Floyd “Money” Mayweather wins this match by KO, TKO or Disqualification. The same offering for Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao pays out +425.
You can grab 33/1 odds on Pacquiao to win this match in the first round and 40/1 if you select him to win in any round from 2 through 12. The odds just mentioned for Pacquiao are the same on the Money Mayweather side too.
At the end of the day, this fight has been rumored for so long, and for this reason, it is almost something that everyone (boxing fan or not – bettor or not) will be anxious to finally see, but there is a strong possibility it might not live up to the hype.
As far as picking a winner, I like the value Pacquiao brings, but we must not forget this fight is basically in Mayweather’s backyard as he is from Las Vegas. How much of a factor that plays into this contest remains to be seen.