Rein in the odds, here comes unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. swearing he would get Manny Pacquiao, a five-time loser, inside five rounds.
This could also mean Mayweather, with a fabled quiet sharpness, would play noisy aggressor to chase Pacquiao from the dugout, post to post, and all over the ring at the MGM Grand Las Vegas on May 2?
No answer to that until the first bell rings, but what’s worth watching are the odds for the superfight, which have started turning topsy-turvy.
A possible reversal of roles for the two top fighters has also threatened to lead to a reversal of original odds.
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In fact, there now looms the likelihood of Pacquiao, originally a 3-1 underdog, playing it very strong off sportsbook windows, if not coming in as the favorite at fight time.
Out there in placid, cool Lipa City, site of a Marian apparition heralded by divine shower of rose petals in 1947, the betting on Friday was double-your-money for Pacquiao to stop Mayweather, after the phenomenal 45-year-young Fr. Junie Maralit, a favorite native son, was ordained Bishop of Boac (Marinduque) during a glorious three-hour celebration inside the 16th century San Sebastian Cathedral.
While Pacquiao, who started out as an awful underdog, has suddenly come to be heavily favored [to win] around Lipa, many other sporting nooks all over the country, fueled by patriotic sentiments, have also picked Pacquiao to triumph over Mayweather.
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There came reports from California yesterday of Filipino immigrants putting hard-earned money, saved for homecoming plane tickets, on their beloved idol, an eight-division world title winner.
Of course, there were also objective bettors who believe Mayweather would be ripe for conquest, because the brash American world champion, with a dread of southpaws, will be facing the toughest, most powerful left-hander in his life.
Mayweather could be left with no choice but come out fighting, if he hopes to survive Pacquiao’s predicted bombardment.
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Anyway, while Pacquiao has vowed to bang it all out in a screaming coup attempt, he has been cautioned to be more careful to prevent a repeat of his lights-out stoppage from Juan Manuel Marquez.
Mayweather, expected to play fox and set up traps for Pacquiao during the fight, said he would stop Pacquiao in five rounds, one less than it took Marquez to complete the feat in December 2012.
Pacquiao would fall, Mayweather swore, because the Filipino superhero had been stopped by Marquez whom he had wholly outboxed and “beaten like a slave.”