After what seemed like almost endless build-up, Floyd Mayweather’s meeting with Conor McGregor is finally here. But who will win the biggest fight of 2017?
These two have been flying around the world on a parade of insults, but now they need to put their money where their ego is. The pair have finally come down to the crunch moment, just who will walk away from this one with a victory? The bookmakers have clearly made Mayweather the favourite, and it’s hard to argue with that when you consider the gulf between them.
Who Will Win The Money Fight?
Not only is this fight a battle of egos, the WBC have matched the fighters over the top outfits with the ‘Money Belt’. The belt is essentially alligator skin drowning in diamonds and other precious stones, which feels very much like it matches the spirit of this crossover contest. There’s so much money and pride on the line after their world-wide catwalk to drum up interest, but just who will end that with a victory?
McGregor here is trying to make up for all Mayweather’s experience. The UFC star kicks off his boxing career this week, and it could end up being a short-lived affair if he’s outclassed here. Facing off against the former champion could prove costly for him, as Mayweather has a career’s worth of experience to edge out the MMA man. That’s not something McGregor can really make up for, especially having been given just months to prepare for a meeting with a man who has won 49 boxing matches in a row.
Money comes into this fight at 40-years-old, which can be seen as a weakness. However, the noises from his training camp are that he’s back to the same shape as he was when he called an end to his 49-0 career. That should make him a difficult opponent for McGregor, and he deserves to be the clear odds on favourite. In fact, we think he should be even shorter, so backing the straight win seems worthwhile as far as we are concerned. You might feel such short odds are only worthwhile if you’re betting huge amounts but ultimately a value bet is a value bet and we’re more than happy to pile into the favourite here.
Betting Tip – Mayweather at 1/4 with Betfair
Other Tips and Predictions
McGregor’s been quite open with his strategy, saying he’s going to come straight to attack Mayweather. That could play into Money’s hands, as he can use his experience and technical boxing ability to take the string out of this fight before ending it later on. We see a patient approach form the favourite, so back over 6.5 rounds at 8/13 with Coral
With that in mind, you should also consider backing the favourite to win between the 7th and 12th at chunky odds of 5/2 with Sky Bet. If this one is going to last, then there’s only one winner in our eyes.
Mayweather to win in the eighth is available at odds of 16/1 with Betfair and is another tempting pick. We think by the time the eighth rolls around he’ll be in full control and ready to bring things to an end. Opting for two or three round bets on Money is a decent option for those put off by the short odds.