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01st Dec 2016

Las Vegas sportsbook opens odds on hypothetical McGregor vs. Mayweather boxing match

'The Notorious' is not expected to fare well

Darragh Murphy

If you’re confident enough that Conor McGregor has the ability to do what Manny Pacquiao, ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Oscar De La Hoya were unable to do to Floyd Mayweather,  now might well be the time to put a few quid on it.

The rumour mill kicked into overdrive on Thursday when news broke that ‘The Notorious’ had been granted a boxing licence by the California State Athletic Commission.

The licensure prompted many fight fans to believe that he was finally going to settle his war of words with Mayweather in the boxing ring, which may be more plausible than you’d imagine it would be.

Conor McGregor with Owen Roddy 9/11/2016

Mayweather’s camp responded to the report by claiming that the reigning UFC lightweight champion would be “killed” if he was booked against the 49-0 retiree.

Later on Thursday, Las Vegas sportsbook Westgate released opening odds on the hypothetical boxing match and their prediction for the spectacle was not that far off the expectations of the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, Leonard Ellerbe.

The betting line, revealed by SportsCenter, show McGregor as a +1100 (11/1) underdog which is understandable considering he’d be taking on one of the greatest of all time in his professional boxing debut.

A Mayweather victory, meanwhile, is valued at -2500 (1/25) which basically means McGregor is thought to have no more than a puncher’s chance of knocking ‘Money’ out.

And as successful as McGregor has been with his left hand in the Octagon, one would expect that he’d struggle to land even a glancing blow on arguably the greatest defensive boxer ever seen.

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