Tonight, Undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Hard Hitting Victor Ortiz; CYInterview Has the Experts You Want to Hear From: Boxing Writer/Historian Bert Sugar Breaks Down the Fight; John Avello Sports Book Manager at the Wynn Las Vegas Talks Odds
Tonight in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand, undefeated WBC Emeritus World Super Welterweight Champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. takes on Victor Ortiz for Ortiz’s WBC Welterweight Championship. This is not the long awaited and much hoped for bout against WBO Welterweight World Champion Manny Pacquiao, but it should be interesting.
Listen to the entire Bert Sugar and John Avello interviews:
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CYInterview is proud to welcome back boxing historian Bert Sugar for a third time. We last talked with Bert in May [see here]. Mr. Sugar believes Victor Ortiz has a chance to win this upcoming fight against Floyd Mayweather. Ortiz is currently 29-2 with two draws compared to the undefeated Mayweather at 41-0.
“Ortiz, a decided underdog has one thing that might change the whole equation and that is power, power and power, which always, in boxing, is an important element. He’s had 33 fights, two draws. In even his draws and his losses, two of them in each case, he has knocked his opponent down as he has in every other fight. He’s got a massive hand for a welterweight, 147, three and a half inches wider around with more hitting surface than Mayweather. So I give him a good puncher’s chance.”
Sugar answers my question about what percentage chance he would give on Victor Ortiz winning this matchup. Additionally, he notes a few more advantages Ortiz might have tomorrow night. For example, Ortiz is 24 years old, ten years younger than Mayweather.
“Probably 20 to 25 percent, which is more than most are giving him. And there’s another reason, Mayweather is 34 years old. A 34 year old’s boxing body can just go so far. By the age of 34, most great welterweights have already retired…Here he [Floyd Mayweather] is at 34 fighting with all the frequency of Halley’s Comet. He’s had two fights in 42 months and the last one 14 months ago and you don’t know when age or rust is gonna set in. In fact, if you look closely, there is a minor erosion I can point out as if he’s just coming off his peak and that is he doesn’t move as much as he used to. He only takes one or two steps most at a time.”
In wondering if the results of the Victor Ortiz/Floyd Mayweather fight will have any impact on a potential match between Mayweather and Pacquiao, Bert says the fight will be off if Mayweather loses.
“Well, if he loses [Mayweather] it’s off. All signals are off. The thesis here is he’s gotta to come to be exactly what he is and what he’s coming as is only one thing, an undefeated fighter because that’s what he predicates, his claim that he’s the greatest fighter in the history of the world because he’s never lost…The criterion is to meet and beat other greats and we’ll see as to whether he can continue to establish his credentials tomorrow night against Ortiz or does he run intro trouble and give Pacquiao and his followers more heart that in effect he really is past his prime…But if he [Mayweather] doesn’t want the fight, he’ll find a way and fib about it again.”
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To give us insight on betting trends for the Floyd Mayweather/Victor Ortiz fight, we welcome back the Wynn Las Vegas sportsbook manager John Avello, to talk about where the wagers are going on this boxing match.
Currently, Mayweather is a -700 favorite. That means an individual looking to place a bet in Vegas would have to bet $700 to win $100. Meantime, as of this writing, Victor Ortiz is a 5 to 1 underdog. For every $1 bet a person would win $5 in return if Ortiz won the fight. John notes the line was higher when it opened.
“We opened this up a little higher. We opened up Mayweather -850, so it’s dropped a little, but this is all the early money and a very small percentage of what’s gonna come in because most of the money that we take on this fight’s gonna come in tomorrow, sometime three to four hours before the fight starts.”
Mr. Avello follows up by telling us what he thinks we’re going to see tonight when it comes to betting trends on this fight.
“I think the big bets are gonna come on Mayweather and I think the smaller ones are gonna come on Ortiz and the reason I say that is because the big money, somebody will put up $700,000 to win $100,000 or $70,000 to win $10,000 [on Mayweather]. Those type of bets will be fairly common and the small bettors are gonna put up a $100 to win to $500 or $1000 to win $5000 [on Ortiz] because they want to get a return for their money. …It’ll be a good handle. It may not be as good as a Pacquiao fight, but it’s Mayweather’s first fight in quite a while and I think the handle will be brisk.”
In closing, John notes that the Wynn sportsbook will accept a bet over a million dollars for someone who wants to bet the big favorite, Floyd Mayweather.
“We don’t turn down many…I don’t know if anybody is interested in coming in and betting 1.4 million on Mayweather to win $200,000, but that’s a bet we would accept. I don’t know if there’s anybody interested out there in doing that. It’s a lot to put up to get a little, but it may happen.”
Bert Sugar’s recent book is titled The Ultimate Book of Boxing Lists. You can find more information and purchase a copy of the book by Clicking Here
You can find out more about the Wynn Las Vegas at http://www.wynnlasvegas.com/
You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com
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