Pacquiao big underdog vs Spence in title clash

Nearly two years ago, Manny Pacquiao opened as slight underdog against the then-unbeaten Keith Thurman in their battle for the World Boxing Association welterweight crown.

Little by little, however, the bettors veered toward Pacquiao, and on fight night, the only eight-division world champion showed why he deserved to be the favorite by beating Thurman via split decision.

On Saturday, May 22, Pacquiao was tagged as the huge underdog in his challenge for Errol Spence’s welterweight crowns on August 21 (August 22, Manila time) in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This time though, the odds are likely to remain in favor of the unscathed International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Council champion Spence.

Reasons: Spence at 31 is 11 years younger than Pacquiao, is four inches taller, and is five inches longer in reach.

With 27 fights and 21 knockouts, Spence is also a lot fresher than Pacquiao, who has gone through 71 ring wars in four decades, compiling a 62-7-2 record with 39 knockouts.

No wonder, Pacquiao was listed as a +350 underdog and Spence -450 favorite by bettinginsidejournal.com on Saturday.

It means a $100 bet on Pacquiao becomes $350 if he wins while a $450 wager on Spence would earn just $100 if he prevails.

In the Pacquiao-Thurman encounter, Thurman was initially listed at -135 and Pacquiao +115. Following a deluge of big bets after the weigh-in, Pacquiao became a -160 favorite and Thurman a +140 underdog.

While it’s still too early to tell whether Pacquiao’s fans would make him the favorite over Spence, it’s clear that many boxing pundits tend to lean toward the native of Long Island, New York.

After all, Pacquiao has endured a total of 486 rounds in the ring, over three times Spence’s total of 132.

In a different context, this means Pacquiao has seen and experienced whatever Spence can offer.

Spence, however, hasn’t fought an aging legendary warrior like Pacquiao. – Rappler.com