Can Conor McGregor do something that no one has ever done and beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Saturday, August 26? Can McGregor make it competitive against Mayweather? If you believe the latest talk coming out of both camps, the answer could be yes, and that might mean the rounds go under the total. Oddsmakers set the rounds total for this mega-fight at 8.5 and there has been some line movement toward the under at -120.
Bet Boxing Odds at BookMaker.eu
Conor McGregor +449
Floyd Mayweather Jr. -698
Rounds 8.5 (under -120)
Rounds Analysis
The interesting part of the rounds analysis comes from looking at some of the surrounding props. Both fighters are getting a lot of respect when it comes to getting a knockout. Mayweather is +300 to get a knockout and +230 to win by unanimous decision. McGregor is +600 to win by knockout and +3300 to win by unanimous decision. That tells me that oddsmakers think one of the two is going to win by knockout and if that happens the fight isn’t likely to last long.
Other interesting props that give us some idea of how long the fight might last are the round-by-round props. Mayweather winning in a particular round is +1600 until the 10th round where the number goes up to +1800. It is even more pronounced on McGregor, as he is +1600 to win in Round 1, with the same price on Rounds 2, 3 and 4 and then the odds go up to +2000 for Round 5, +4000 in Round 6 and +5000 in subsequent rounds.
Again, this tells me that oddsmakers don’t believe this fight is going to make it past the middle rounds.
Further indication that this fight may not last long is listed in the round length props. The fight ending in Round 1 is listed at +1000, +575 for going under two rounds, +375 to go under three rounds, +250 to go under four rounds, +180 to go under five rounds, +150 to go under six rounds and then even money to go under seven rounds. The price goes slowly up after seven rounds.
Once again, this tells me that oddsmakers don’t think this fight is going past the seventh round.
Mayweather has not won a bout by KO or TKO since 2011 when he defeated Vitor Oritz. Mayweather is 49-0 in his career and has only been officially knocked down once in his career and that was in 2001 by Carlos Hernandez. Mayweather was almost knocked down in 2010 against Shane Mosley.
When the odds on this fight were first released, Mayweather was listed as a -1100 favorite but those odds have consistently come down. Almost all of the public betters are backing McGregor at the big price. The fight is expected to break all records for most money ever bet on a boxing match.
Both Fighters Predicting a Knockout
The odds on the total are moving toward the under because both fighters have predicted a knockout. “He’s looking forward to getting out there and ending the fight early. I’m looking forward to going out there and ending the fight early. It won’t go the distance,” said Mayweather to EuroNews. Mayweather also said he is not going to fight a defensive fight.
We’re going to fight him,” Mayweather’s trainer Nate told the Los Angeles Times “We know this is something new for him. So, Floyd’s going to turn the gas on early. We’re going to fight him. We don’t think he can go past four rounds. So we’ll burn the gas out of him (early), make it a tough fight for him, let him see some things he’s never … hit him with some good body shots.”
McGregor has been even brasher in predicting a knockout. He said the fight won’t go two rounds. “If we’re eight ounces, I’m struggling to give him two rounds, and that’s the God’s honest truth,” McGregor said. “The only reason I maybe give him two rounds is because in this game the referee stops me from pounding his head into the canvas, and he has 10 seconds to recover. That’s the only reason why he might get to the second round. I see a beaten man in his eyes, in his body language, in everything he does.”
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How to Bet
Access live betting lines from your mobile device at BookMaker sportsbook! Real-time spreads, totals, props and money line are all available so start betting with BookMaker today. Mayweather vs. McGregor takes place on Saturday, August 26, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight will air live on pay-per-view.
