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While Conor McGregor may have the support of the people on his side, there’s no denying that Floyd “Money” Mayweather is the favorite heading into their fight on Saturday, and the biggest bettors in Vegas are backing him up.
As ESPN’s David Purdum recently reported, “multiple $1 million bets” have been made on the fighter over the past few days. The bets — one placed for $1 million on Mayweather at -550 odds at the MGM sportsbook, the other a $1.2 million bet at -500 odds placed at William Hill — are an indication that Mayweather’s odds are about as low as they will go before the bell rings.
As a rule, the biggest bets in gambling, specifically boxing, come in late and come in on the favorite. Since even before the fight was announced, sportsbooks have been taking money on the fight, mostly from casual bettors and almost all of it on McGregor to pull off the improbable upset. According to information on OddsShark.com, Mayweather opened as high as a -2250 favorite (bet $2,250 to win $100) against McGregor, but a constant streak of McGregor bets brought that number all the way as low as -400 at some online sportsbooks.
As the high-rollers arrive to both watch the fight in person and enjoy Sin City for the weekend, the smartest bettors waited until they believed Mayweather’s price was the lowest it would be before the fight and then struck. With the series of million dollar bets coming in, it’s safe to say we’ve now found that point in the odds.
“The price is skyrocketing right now,” MGM vice president of race and sports Jay Rood told ESPN, according to Purdum’s story.
At the time of this writing, Westgate Las Vegas still has the fight at Mayweather -550/McGregor +400, but that number is subject to change at any moment, especially if more big bets come in on Mayweather in the coming hours. ESPN is keeping a running tally of the biggest bets placed on the fight here.
By the time of the fight, Mayweather-McGregor will likely be the highest-bet fight in the history of boxing. If you plan on betting Mayweather to win, the sooner you get your bet in, the better off you’ll be.
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