The significance of a sporting event often can be judged by the number of sports betting options associated with it.
Events such as the Super Bowl, March Madness, World Series, NBA Championship, BCS title game, Indianapolis 500, Kentucky Derby and marquee heavyweight championship fights typically offer the gambler multiple ways to invest in the outcome.
So it comes as a welcome surprise that bookmakers are offering bettors such a wide array of wagering options on the welterweight title fight showdown between champion Miguel Cotto and challenger Joshua Clottey at New York’s MadisonSquareGarden, June 13. HBO will bring further heft to the event by broadcasting the scheduled 12-rounder.
Cotto (33-1, 27 knockouts) opened as a consensus favorite of about -350 (bet $350 to win $100) while Clottey (35-2, 20 KOs) starts out as the roughly +275 underdog (bet $100 to win $275).
It’s no shock that Cotto opened as a modest favorite. The Puerto Rican, who will be fighting on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day parade and will have the crowd behind him, is ranked seventh by Ring Magazine in the pound-for-pound category. Cotto has just one defeat on his record, to Antonio Margarito, a fighter who recently was exposed as a cheat when it was discovered that he had a plaster-like substance on his hand-wraps. So put an asterisk next to that “loss.”
Cotto, who won the WBO welterweight crown in 2004 then added the WBA’s version of the 147-pound title in 2007, has several high-profile wins, including victories over champions Shane Mosley and Zab Judah. With terrific hand speed, solid punching power and good defense, Cotto will be difficult to beat.
Clottey, who was born in Ghana, is a former IBF welterweight champion. He also lost to Margarito, via a disputed decision, in December of 2006. His other defeat was an 11th round disqualification in 1999 to Carlos Baldomir in a bout he was leading on all three cards. Given his obvious skill set and experience, Clottey merits wagering respect as a live underdog.
In addition to straight wagering, bookmakers are offering four totals on the fight as well as a prop on whether the scheduled 12 round bout will go the distance:
7 1/2 Rounds8 1/2 Rounds
Over-350-300
Under +275 +240
9 1/2 Rounds 10 1/2 Rounds
Over -250 -225
Under+200+190
Will the fight go the distance?
Yes-120
No-120
Gamblers also can wager on which of the bout’s five possible outcomes will occur:
Cotto wins by decision- 150
Cotto win by KO, TKO or DQ+ 300
Clottey wins by decision+ 500
Clottey wins by KO, TKO or DQ+ 650
Fight ends in a 12-round draw+2500
Wait, there’s more. Some books also are offering something called group round betting in which the gambler gets a price on a knockout in a trio of connected rounds:
Cotto by KO, TKO or DQ in rounds 1-3+1600
Cotto by KO, TKO or DQ in rounds 4-6+1400
Cotto by KO, TKO or DQ in rounds 7-9+1100
Cotto by KO, TKO or DQ in rounds 10-12+1100
Clottey by KO, TKO or DQ in rounds 1-3+2300
Clottey by KO, TKO or DQ in rounds 4-6+2500
Clottey by KO, TKO or DQ in rounds 7-9+2000
Clottey by KO, TKO or DQ in rounds 10-12+2000
Of course, you could cover all of these double-digit payouts and still lose if the fight goes the distance.
And finally, for the truly ambitious (reckless is more like it), you can bet which boxer will win in which exact round. Picking the exact round Cotto stops Clottey will get you anywhere from +2200 to +3300. The return is even stronger, somewhere between +3300 and +5000, if your crystal ball tells you which round Clottey will stop Cotto.
Like group round betting, if the fight goes the distance, you lose.
Hopefully, the fight will be as entertaining for casual viewers as it is wager-friendly for boxing betting fans.
