Fight odds continue to soar for Pacquiao

MANILA, Philippines – The odds favoring Manny Pacquiao over Ricky Hatton went a notch higher barely four weeks left before their big match at the MGM Grand.

From -225 when the betting lines officially opened last Feb. 7, the hard-hitting Pacquiao is now a -250 favorite, meaning you need to put in $250 just to win a hundred bucks.

Hatton, despite being the champion who will defend his IBO light-welterweight crown on May 2, stood still as the +185 underdog, meaning your $100 wager wins $185.

Hatton was the same +185 underdog when the lines opened exactly two months ago.

The odds that the fight will not go over nine-and-a-half rounds are also low at -155 while the odds that the fight will end earlier than that, as predicted, are at +125.

Over the Internet, ticket prices have sky-rocketed with Floor E, Row A seats, the best in the house, being peddled and sold for as much as $8,330 and $8,950 or roughly P400,000. On the booths, they are pegged as high as $1,000 to as low as $150.

But Bob Arum of Top Rank said only less than 600 of the 16,300 tickets remain on sale, and should be “sold out” by this week.

Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, said he’d be “very disappointed” if Hatton lasts longer than the first three rounds, a prediction that was matched by the British camp.

Floyd Mayweather Sr., Hatton’s trainer, said Pacquiao could be out of it earlier than that.

Meanwhile, Team Pacquiao laughed off as rumors a very recent post at mannypacquiao.ph that the Pinoy pound-for-pound champion hurt his foot during roadwork.

“Let them be,” said Pacquiao’s LA-based wingman Winchell Campos when asked to verify the report that the boxer hurt his right foot during his morning workout.

Yesterday, a Sunday in Los Angeles, Pacquiao heard Mass at the Christ the King Church, but skipped his routine jog at Griffith Park.

In another development, WBC and WBC junior-welterweight champion Timothy Bradley called on the winner between Pacquiao or Hatton, moments after he defeated Hendall Halt the other day.

“I want the big dogs. I want the winner of Hatton and Pacquiao, definitely. If I can’t get them, I want (Juan Manuel) Marquez. I want to be the star of the (140 lb) division,” eastasideboxing reported.