Two of the greatest fighters — and greatest talkers — of their generation are going to challenge each other in one of the greatest spectacles of their generation.
Yes, it is official that Floyd Mayweather will unretire and try to move to 50-0 when he challenges MMA superstar Conor McGregor in a boxing match in Las Vegas on August 26.
The hype and social media nonsense that will accompany this fight will reach Super Bowl levels. Naturally, the urge to bet on one man will also reach Super Bowl levels and sportsbooks such as Sportsbook have already been accepting wagers on this fight before it was even announced.
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How to Bet McGregor vs Mayweather
Most of the betting talk you will hear around this Floyd vs Conor fight will be the moneyline. The day the fight became official, the moneyline for the unbeaten Mayweather was -800 while the moneyline on underdog McGregor was +500.
What do those numbers mean for the casual guy looking to make a bet? The -800 value on Floyd means you only win $1 for every $8 you bet. So if you bet $80 on Floyd and he wins, your profit is $10. Not a huge amount, but again, he is a 49-0 boxer fighting a guy who has never boxed professionally.
The people who are betting big on Floyd in Las Vegas and at overseas sportsbooks are those who feel Floyd is a sure thing. There were reports in Vegas of bettors wagering $80,000 on Floyd. That’s an easy $10,000 profit, but two things to consider: 1) that’s a lot of money to risk, not every dude has so much money, and 2) what if Conor lands a punch and knocks him out? Now your $80,000 is gone.
That’s the nature of moneyline favorites. They are supposed to be better, they are expected to win, so you risk more for a smaller reward.
On the other hand, you have Conor McGregor as the 155-pound champion of the UFC and previously the undefeated champion at 145 pounds as well.
He was +500 earlier, meaning you profit $5 for every $1 you risk. So if you bet just $10 on Conor and he shocks the world, you get a $50 profit. The numbers, of course, get bigger as you scale up. Bet $100 and you earn $500. A similar professional bettor in Vegas or offshore who believes in the Irishman and wagers $10,000 on Conor would earn a $50,000 payday.
Some people don’t feel that +500 (5-1 odds) is good enough value to bet on the underdog here, because Conor should be overmatched in a boxing match. But sportsbooks have been burned by these ‘impossible’ long shots in the past. Remember that Ronda Rousey was invincible and a huge favorite (-1650) against Holly Holm, who was +1200 at one point (12-1 odds). A few punches and one head kick later and all those 12-1 long-shot bets on Holm paid off and the sportsbooks got clobbered.
With the vast majority of bets coming in on McGregor (they are basically considered long-shot lottery tickets), sportsbooks such as Sportsbook have to be careful with their lines.
Where to Bet McGregor vs Mayweather
The best sportsbooks to bet Floyd Mayweather or Conor McGregor on August 26 will depend on where you are and what kind of bettor you are. If you are lucky enough to be in Las Vegas on August 26 and ringside at the T-Mobile Arena, you have your choice of great Vegas sportsbooks to lay your bets.
If you are like the rest of us poor saps watching at bars and on PPV at home, you probably have already placed your bets at top-rated shops such as Sportsbook. In either case, expect to find a bunch of betting options ranging from who will win the fight to how many rounds the fight will last to how many PPV will be sold. The aforementioned Sportsbook had set the Sportsbook OVER/UNDER at five million buys.
Online shop Sportsbook also has some fun props, including speculation on whether there will be a rematch next year. The ‘no’ bet is favored at -400.
Ways to Bet Floyd vs Conor
We touched on the moneyline and the fun PPV prop, but there are lots of other ways to bet on Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor. Some of the odds are pretty outrageous, but that is appropriate because this superfight is pretty outrageous.
You can bet on whether the fight will last all 12 rounds or end sooner. You can even bet on each fighter to win during a specific round (it was +2500 or 25-1 for Conor to win in the first round).
Many boxing experts don’t think Conor can hurt the defensive wizard Mayweather. But what if Conor cranks him and knocks him down? That’s a 4-1 payout on a knockdown if you place the wager now.
An interesting bet that some of the experts here at OddsShark.com have pointed out is the +120 wager on Floyd Mayweather to win by a decision. He almost always wins by decision (as a look at the Mayweather betting odds history chart shows) so profiting $12 for every $10 you risk is pretty good.
Even when he was a whopping -3000 favorite in his last fight against Andre Berto, the fight still went to a decision. Our Floyd-Conor props page also had an option to bet on Floyd to win by unanimous decision at +175. If you think Conor can tough it out until the final bell, that’s a good profit for a sensible outcome.
If you are a basketball or football bettor and like to wager on OVER/UNDER, then Sportsbook has one for you. The total number of rounds was set at 9.5.
Regardless of whether you are a boxing fan or MMA fan – or neither – you will be hearing plenty about this fight and there will be plenty of bets to choose from. Follow OddsShark’s Twitter account for line moves and updates and special offers.
How to bet if you live outside of America
This boxing match is generating interest from fight fans around the world with bettors from all over the globe looking to get in on the action. Fourtunately, there are many online sportsbooks outside of the U.S. offering odds on the fight and we have the best ones listed for many different regions below: