Manny Pacquiao a Large Favorite Over Conor McGregor

It appears that the once hard to believe matchup between Conor McGregor and Manny Pacquiao is no longer just a longstanding rumor, but is actually close to becoming a done deal.

A few days ago, Conor McGregor created quite the buzz when the retired UFC star stated that he was going to fight Manny Pacquiao next and do so in the Middle East.

Furthermore, there were critics who said that McGregor was just using this to gain leverage in his negotiations with the UFC.

Well, it looks like McGregor was telling more fact than fiction as a representative from Team Pacquiao made the following public statement confirming a mega fight between the two:

“For the sake of all the Filipino Covid-19 victims, Senator Manny Pacquiao will be fighting UFC superstar Conor McGregor next year. The huge portion of his earnings will proceed to those who are affected nationwide by the pandemic.”

Now that it appears we’re going to be treated to a super fight between two of combat sports biggest stars, let’s take a closer look at the available betting odds to see where we should place our money.

Manny Pacquiao intends to fight Conor McGregor for a good cause ?? pic.twitter.com/Prkjy4djvC

— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) September 26, 2020

McGregor vs Pacquiao Betting Odds

The following odds are courtesy of Bovada:

• Manny Pacquiao (-450)
• Conor McGregor (+325)

When this fight was first making its way around the rumor mill over a year ago, Pacquiao was a -1429 favorite and McGregor was a +650 underdog.

Since then, Pacquiao is still the favorite but with odds listed anywhere from -450 to -1200, while McGregor is listed as an underdog with a range of +325 to +700.

Obviously, depending on who you think will win, there seems to be a vast difference in how boxing betting sites have handicapped this fight. When that happens, we bettors can find some value through line shopping.

What Do We Know About This Fight?

Right now, all we know is that the boxing match will happen in 2021 and take place in the Middle East. Yet, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard about Pacquiao and McGregor putting on the boxing gloves. In fact, we’ve been consistently hearing about a rumored showdown since the spring of 2019.

Following Manny’s victory over Keith Thurman in July 2019, BetOnline even released a prop bet on who Pacquiao would fight next. The popular sports betting site listed Conor McGregor as the longshot option at +20000 odds. If you were brave enough to bet on McGregor as Pacquiao’s next opponent then you are in line for a massive payday.

Who Would Win Between Pacquiao and McGregor?

Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KO) is the reigning WBA welterweight champion and critics will say that Manny should be defending that belt in a match against a ranked boxer instead of a non-title fight against McGregor.

My counter to the critics is that we’re talking about one of the sport’s all-time greats and, at 41 years old, Pacquiao should be able to pretty much do whatever he wants.

The door is still cracked open to the possibility of Pacquiao fighting a true boxer within the next few months and then taking on McGregor somewhere around May 2021, which is the most popular time of the year for boxing.

Theoretically, Pacquiao could step in the ring against a ranked boxer in December or January and still have enough time to prepare for McGregor. It all depends on what the “Pac man” wants to do.

.@TheNotoriousMMA said he's going to fight @MannyPacquiao next ?

(via @ESPNRingside) pic.twitter.com/kl0GcXZ90I

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 25, 2020

With that said, I don’t believe Pacquiao needs a lengthy training camp to prepare for McGregor. Yes, Conor took Mayweather to the 10^th round before losing by TKO in 2017. However, Pacquiao is a stylistic nightmare for McGregor and this fight won’t last nearly as long.

Where Mayweather is a defensive fighter lulling his opponents into making mistakes, Pacquiao attacks and hits from all angles. Additionally, Pacquiao has 39 knockouts on his resume whereas Mayweather has just 27.

Pacquiao showed in his 2019 summer fight against a younger, bigger Thurman that he still has the skills to win world championships in the sport he’s become an icon in. That’s bad news for Conor McGregor.

Jump all over the -450 line for Pacquiao at Bovada as you won’t find odds this low by time we get to fight week.

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