The betting odds on the Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor showdown, scheduled for August 26th at T-Mobile in Las Vegas, were adjusted in McGregor’s favor this week.
The odds shifted upon confirmation that the fighters will wear 8-ounce gloves. Pursuant to the Nevada Commission rules regarding the 154-pound weight class, where the fight will be contested, the boxers are required to wear 10-ounce gloves.
William Hill U.S., which operates more than 100 sports books throughout the state of Nevada, moved McGregor’s odds to +425 (bet $100 to win $425), tightened slightly from the +450 he was priced at for about two weeks.
Mayweather’s number moved from -600 to -550 (requiring a $550 wager for a $100 profit).
The Nevada State Athletic Commission voted unanimously to grant a request from both fighters’ camps to allow 8-ounce gloves, an one-time exception to the governing body’s rule that states boxers above the welterweight limit of 147 are required to use 10-ounce gloves.
While bookmakers at William Hill believe the ruling favors McGregor, some boxing analysts disagree with that notion.
“With the decision on the 8-ounce gloves, we moved our price on Mayweather from -600 to -550,” said Nick Bogdanovich, director of trading at William Hill U.S.
But there is no doubt in the mind of ESPN boxing analyst Max Kellerman that smaller gloves help Mayweather.
“He’s the one that will be doing all the hitting,” Kellerman said on-air this week.
This week’s odds adjustment continues the pattern seen in Las Vegas since the fight was announced. Mayweather opened the -1100 favorite at William Hill, with McGregor originally posted at +700, but with 95 percent of the bets and 76 percent of the money on McGregor, the price has moved steadily in McGregor’s direction.
This is typical of prize fights. Casual bettors like to take shots on the underdog, giving themselves a chance for a big payday for a relatively small risk. Bookmakers respond by lowering the price on the favorite, making bets on the favorite more attractive to professional bettors. In the case of Mayweather-McGregor, expect plenty of big bets from sharp bettors to come in as fight night approaches.
For now, though, with a multimillion-dollar liability on McGregor, Vegas books are in Mayweather’s corner.
“We are hoping that McGregor’s two-round knockout prediction with the smaller gloves doesn’t ring true. As of today, it would be our worst sports result ever,” Bogdanovich said.
