LAS VEGAS (AP) – Days before the fight, one Manny Pacquiao believer had already put $500,000 on his man in the MGM Grand sports book.
Now, book operator Jay Rood is working hard to balance the action.
“Hopefully by this evening we’ll have taken a million-dollar bet on Mayweather,” Rood said Thursday. “We’re trying to get that hooked up now.”
Big bets and big fights are nothing new in this gambling city. But the richest fight ever is also drawing more money at the betting window than any fight before it.
“The handle on the Strip will be astronomical,” Rood said. “It will easily become the biggest fight in Nevada books. I think it could fall somewhere between $60-80 million.”