While the much-awaited super fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. has yet to be made official, rumors already have it that a 2015 date is being eyed by both camps.
As a matter of fact, boxing fans have already started placing their bets in at least two Las Vegas sports bookies starting last week. It looks like the odds favor Money over the Pacman 3 to 1, reports the Australian edition of the International Business Times.
Betting lines began at MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay resort hotels in Las Vegas on October 24 which may actually put pressure on the two camps to finalize the terms of the much-awaited face off.
In a September 5 report of the Daily Mail, Manny Pacquiao personally revealed during his press tour to promote his fight with Chris Algieri in November that serious negotiations are indeed underway with the Mayweather camp.
Asked then when the super fight, reportedly worth $300 million, would take place, Manny said that it would likely be May next year, cited the Daily Mail.
The report also added that Bob Arum, on the same press tour, also confirmed that the negotiations for the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight are indeed serious, citing that there is a chance that the fight could even happen two times in 2015.
"Both networks (Showtime and Top Rank) want the fight to happen. All signs seem to point to a first fight early next year. A second fight in autumn would provide a different cash split because the winner of the first would claim the higher percentage. As each of them believes he would win, that provides extra incentives," Arum explained.
The Pacquiao-Mayweather bout has been the world's most awaited boxing fight. Thus, if and when the mega-fight happens, it is expected to draw huge numbers both from gate attendance and pay-per-view (PPV) sales, discloses the International Business Times.
With the magnitude of the projected fight, betting is expected to be quite heavy as well, especially if and when a deal is finalized, the report added.
"It (betting) is an unusual move for a fight that hasn't been confirmed. It is not something that we would normally do it it's just a projected fight. If we do something like that, the fight would have to take place in a certain amount of time," points out Scott Ghertner, spokesman for MGM Grand.
According to the report by International Times, Oddschecker, an online betting site which collects betting odds and numbers from 24 different online sports books, says that only williamhill.com is providing the Mayweather-Pacquiao wager. Similar to the actual betting line, williamhill.com has Mayweather favored to beat Pacquiao, 3 to 1, the report noted.