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Posted 05/08/2007 at 02:32 PM
I absolutely nailed all three of my boxing selections for the Floyd Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya fight. As stated in my pick pack, I said that Mayweather’s speed would create problems for the bigger, stronger De La Hoya. ‘Pretty Boy’ would win on the scorecards because he didn’t have the power to knockout the bigger ‘Golden Boy.’
I also said that the fight would be close enough, with some sort of controversy to try for a rematch. There is way too much money for these two fighters not to do it again within the next year. De La Hoya made $25 million as a fighter, and another $10-15 million as the promoter for The World Awaits. Mayweather made just $10 million, but will get significantly more with a rematch.
The 30-year-old has stated repeatedly that he is now done with boxing to pursue other interests, but that announcement holds as much water as a Roger Clemens retirement party.
But before anyone out there wants to nominate me for Handicapper of the Year for my recent boxing success, I was equally adamant about the Houston Rockets winning Game 7 on their home floor Saturday night against the Utah Jazz. I thought there was no way a team could lose on its home court in the deciding game. That’s why they call it gambling.
The atmosphere at the MGM Grand Garden Arena for The World Awaits was incredible, but I stayed mostly in the media center working on my story. The national media and heavyweights get floor seats and access, while VegasInsider.com and other media are relegated to the nosebleeds. My press pass was in section 222 row P, which provided a better view of the ceiling tiles.
So outside of roaming around the arena for some earlier bouts, I stayed inside the media center and watched the broadcast. Latino boxing fans are great and full of passion, and the sport would be in much worse shape without their interest and dedication.
However, those fans really took it on the chin so to speak at the betting windows around town. De La Hoya opened as a decided $2.00 underdog (bet $100 to win $200), but the line was moved to +1.55 (bet $100 to win $155). I can’t give you an exact amount on how much money moved the line that much for such a major event, but I guarantee you it was a very huge sum.
I had a problem with the national anthems for Saturday’s The World Awaits. Both fighters were American, so why was the Mexican national anthem played before the fight? I know De La Hoya was born in East Los Angeles, and is Mexican-American, but that kind of felt like a slap in the face. Kind of goes against the argument of assimilation since Italian-American Arturo Gatti doesn’t have the Italian national anthem played before his fights.
The American national anthem was just as bad compliments of singer Marc Anthony. I know it’s a big national stage, but can you cut the length down to under four minutes? It reminded of The Simpsons skit where they go to a Springfield baseball game, and the singer proceeds to give a half-hour rendition.
The Super Bowl had a proposition wager this year on the length of the national anthem with Billy Joel. Most people were jumping on the ‘under’ since it was raining. If Marc Anthony does a future Super Bowl, I’m betting the house on the ‘over.’
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