Vegas gamblers piling money on Pacquiao to beat Mayweather
Early action flooding in for Filipino star in USA's only legal sports books
Manny Pacquiao has always believed he can do what 47 other fighters before him have failed to do – beat Floyd Mayweather Jr in the ring.
Turns out a lot of other people are believers, too. And they’re backing their opinions with real money.
A flurry of early action on Pacquiao has already narrowed the odds for the big fight in Las Vegas’s legal sports books. By the time they get into the ring May 2, it’s conceivable that Mayweather might not be favourite at all.
“I’ve never seen Mayweather this low eight weeks out before the fight,” said Jimmy Vaccaro, who has booked money on every big fight for the past four decades in Las Vegas. “This is as close as we get to a legitimate pick ‘em fight since Mayweather fought [Oscar] De La Hoya.”
Mayweather opened as a 5-2 favourite in most sports books when the fight was announced, and at that price Pacquiao backers couldn’t wait to get their bets down. At Vaccaro’s South Point hotel sports book, there were 150 bets on Pacquiao in the days after the fight was announced to just 10 on Mayweather.