LAS VEGAS ? It should be a one-sided contest if you look at the odds.
Barely three days before the fight, the odds favoring Manny Pacquiao, the challenger, over David Diaz, the champion, has skyrocketed that a $550 bet on the Pinoy sensations only wins a hundred bucks.
That?s how it?s going on right now at Sportsbook, the official on-line betting station here.
Pacquiao, from -400 the other day, on Tuesday moved up to -550 (either by decision or KO) while Diaz, the WBC lightweight champion, is now at +400 from +300 just a day before.
A bet of $100, if placed on the American champion with Mexican roots, will win $400.
For those hoping for a 12-round decision, you?d need $130 to win $100 while those hoping for a stoppage either way would win $110 for every $100 wager.
Pacquiao by decision and knockout is even money while Diaz winning by decision is 9/2 and by knockout 7/1. A draw would be very hard to fetch, giving out a dividend of 10/1.
While he remained the overwhelming favorite, Pacquiao still spent time out on the sun and the terrible summer heat that went as high as 39 degrees Tuesday and 41 degrees by Saturday, the day of the fight.
Pacquiao went out early and took a 30-minute jog followed by 10 minutes of wind sprints at the UNLV compound. Then he did his abdominal exercises and as the weather really turned hot he was on his way back to the hotel.
Pacquiao had chicken adobo, very little rice and fruits for breakfast with little talk touching on the Ces Drilon kidnapping back home.
He was at the Events Center by noon to meet the members of the press, foreign and local, went back up to his suite and left for the IBA Gym for a very light workout.
Lined up Wednesday is the final press conference.
Diaz, meanwhile, said he?s never gone out of the hotel since checking in Sunday evening, flying in from LA in a private plane which he shared with his manager Jim Strickland and Top Rank big boss Bob Arum.
?I haven?t touched the weather outside,? said Diaz, who must be working out somewhere inside the hotel, just doing some drills to cap his training camp that started as early as April 19.
