Nobody wants to bet against Pacquiao – wanna bet?

Would you want to bet against the top dog? That's what boxing icon Manny Pacquiao has become, and in his Sunday rematch with Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera, it would be hard to find someone who'd bet against the favored boxer. Gamblers would bet on everything else about the fight, according to Willie Ronario, owner of an off-track betting (OTB) station on Kamuning Road in Quezon City. "There will be bets on how many rounds it will last or whether Manny will win via technical knockout," Ronario said. But not against Pacquiao – who's not only a heavy favorite but "national symbol," as Ronario put it. So long-time patrons of Ronario's OTB station are already readying other betting schemes to cash in on the Pacquiao-Barrera showdown. OTB patrons like Val Tiongson say the odds are 8-10 for Pacquiao. In the loose rules of informal street betting, this means a payout of P800 for a bet of P1 for the "Pambansang Kamao." "A bet of 1,000 will win 800 because the odds are really with Manny," Tiongson said. " It can go down to as low as 600 to every 1,000 tomorrow (Sunday, the day of the fight)." Tiongson and his consortium of friends have already secured a bet of P10,000 with 8-10 odds for the fight, which starts at 9 a.m. Sunday (Philippine time). Still Tiongson's bet is a rarity even with the attractive odds favoring bettors who pick the Mexican to win. Boxing journalist Manny Lopez says the odds are easy to explain. Aside from being older, slower, weaker and less versatile, Barrera has a career that, by general consensus, is already on the decline. In fact, Barrera announced that this would be his last fight. Lopez says odds in Las Vegas odds makers give Pacquiao a +260 odds margin. That is, you make $260 on a bet of $100. Of course, you might want to look for a Mexican. Maybe he'd like to bet against Pacquiao. - GMANews.TV