LAS VEGAS ? The odds are stacked in favor of Manny Pacquiao.
Bob Arum, the lead promoter of Saturday night?s big event, revealed on Wednesday that oddsmakers have installed Pacquiao a -135 favorite and Mexican Erik Morales a +115 underdog.
With 2,000 seats left before the main event is played, Pacquiao continues to widen his lead over Morales as far as the betting line is concerned. The Grand Garden Arena has a seating capacity of 14,500.
When the sportsbook opened last month, Pacquiao was immediately placed as the slight favorite.
This is not the first time Pacquiao is being paraded as fight favorite since he was virtually hands-on to win against Juan Manuel Marquez when they duked it out in May last year also at the Grand Garden Arena and the fight ended on a 12-round split draw.
When Pacquiao made his US debut here in June 2001, there was no betting line because everyone thought Pacquiao was just made as a sacrificial lamb for South African Lehlo Ledwaba, who was defending his International Boxing Federation super-bantam crown at that time. Pacquiao won by sixthround stoppage.
Against Marco Antonio Barrera in Nov. 2003 in San Antonio, Texas, Pacquiao was the heavy underdog and he proved his detractors wrong when he dominated Barrera en route to an 11th round TKO victory at the Alamodome.
