MGM Sportsbook VP on Mayweather-Berto Betting Trends

Gambling ahead of Floyd Mayweather's fight against Andre Berto on Saturday night has been slow.

Four months after the “fight of the century” between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao became one of the sports events that attracted most bets, not much betting has been done this week.

Mayweather, the undefeated WBA and WBC welterweight champion, was the 1-30 favorite on Friday, giving punters a narrow range of options.

"It's been much different from the Mayweather-Pacquiao bout," Jay Rood, vice-president of race and sportsbook at MGM Resorts, said on Friday.

"I spent nearly three-and-a-half days doing media interviews for that last fight. Everybody from all around the globe wanted to talk about it. Now this is the first time I have stepped into the media center here at the MGM Grand all week.

"Floyd is a much larger favorite, a 30-1 (on) favorite, whereas he was around a $2 favorite against Pacquiao."

Gamblers flocked in huge numbers to Las Vegas for the May 2 fight in which Mayweather beat Pacquiao on points. The amount that was wagered on that bout nudged above the $60-million mark. This weekend’s title showdown will be a far cry from that.

"It's not going to be a fire sale, that's for sure," said Rood. "From a gambling perspective, you have to be mightily confident that Mayweather's going to go out there and win for you to put any real significant money to make significant money.

"If you want to win $10,000 on this fight, you have to lay $300,000. We'll see a few of those. But right now, it's been all Berto because everyone wants to see the ticket that says a $100 wager to win a $1 000, instead of a $100 wager to win $3.30."

Mayweather is renowned for his defensive brilliance and ability to out-think opponents, Berto is likely to rely on his power and athleticism in the early rounds.

With that in mind, Rood said many gamblers were looking at the “will go, won't go the full twelve rounds” bets as an option.

"A lot of people will look at it and think a couple of things can happen. Mayweather can dance around, show his speed and skill, put on a boxing clinic and maybe do enough damage to get a technical knockout.

“Or Berto will come straight at him early and they will both mix it up, then a few things can happen.

"Berto can get a nice punch in and end the fight, Mayweather can get a good punch in and end the fight or Mayweather may be very aggressive and put some damage on Berto, who has to retire.

"Most people are still betting for the upset because of the price that is available – 10-1 on a small wager for a little bit of interest is probably where this fight's going to fall into the gambling world."