Early odds heavily favor Mayweather in McGregor bout
You excited for the huge Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor bout? Yeah? You ready for world-class, galactic-level trash talking? Yeah? You looking for a tense fight whose outcome will be in doubt throughout? Well …
Conventional wisdom holds that Mayweather will dance around McGregor, dominating and pointing the less-experienced MMA import until the final bell. And the odds are swinging that way, too.
Current odds, via Bovada.tv, have Mayweather as a minus-600 favorite — meaning you’d have to bet $600 to win $100. McGregor, meanwhile, has come in at 4-1, meaning a $100 bet would win you $400.
The odds seem to favor a Mayweather victory later in the fight or by decision, with odds dropping from 20-1 in the first round to 14-1 in the fourth through eighth, then rising back up to 33-1 in the 12th. Mayweather is a 13-10 favorite to win by decision, indicating oddsmakers’ expectations that he’ll draw out the fight and put it in the hands of the judges.
McGregor, by contrast, could create a few college funds; he pays as much as 100-1 if he manages a victory on a split decision. And if, against all expectation, the fight ends in a draw, well, you could cash in on 33-1 odds.
One cute prop bet: the over-under on the number of pay-per-view purchases. It’s set at 4.99 million, which would make it one of the most popular PPVs of all-time, regardless of how ugly the fight ends up being.
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION, on sale now at Amazon or wherever books are sold. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.
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