Top Rank chief thinks betting odds for Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito “crazy”
As betting odds shuffle for the upcoming Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito super fight on November 13, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, who promotes both fighters, can’t believe his eyes.
“The odds are totally crazy,” Arum recently exclaimed.
Pacquiao remains the heavy favourite for the fight. The latest numbers coming from online betting sites like bet.us.com have Pacquiao at -650 (meaning $650 earns $100), and Margarito at +425 ($100 wins $425).
Not a week ago Pacquiao was sitting at -525 and Margarito at +325.
Arum, the mastermind promoter that has all but ruled boxing for the last twenty years, said that numbers were no accurate assessment of the fight. Just last weekend, after seeing Pacquiao train and spar in Baguio City, he expressed his doubts, saying that
if the fight were to happen at that exact moment, Margarito would almost surely win.
“If the fight happened on Saturday Margarito will win the fight,” Arum said. “He (Pacquiao) should stop all these nonsense.” Arum was referring to Pacquiao’s extracurricular activities.
Arum also suggested odds should be closer than what oddsmakers are quoting.
”This fight should be only two and a half to one and not five or six to one. It’s crazy. That’s just Filipinos betting on Manny,” Arum speculated.
The argument that odds should be two and a half to one was substantiated by most reports that Antonio Margarito is looking sharp at the midway point of training camp. Famed boxing journalist Doug Fischer recently caught one of Margarito’s sessions and had
nothing but positive things to say about the fighter.
Margarito is guaranteed to $3-million for the fight, his largest payday. He knows that should he beat Pacquiao he will be front and center in the boxing world and will invite higher, more lucrative paydays.
Any fighter than Pacquiao fights automatically becomes a millionaire, though he himself is not the highest paid boxer in the sport. That title belongs to Floyd Mayweather Jr.
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