Mayweather Denied Bet on His Fight

Nearly everybody knows Floyd Mayweather likes to bet on his fights. As he mentioned last week, his fight with Conor McGregor was going to be no different. But it didn’t quite work out how he expected. One of the bets he tried to place was refused.

The bet that was turned down wasn’t a bet on himself, which made The M Resort hesitant. It was a bet the fight didn’t go 9.5 rounds. According to ESPN there was concern over the legality of a fighter betting anything other than a straight win on himself. That was something Mayweather also wanted to do, but got tired of waiting while the other matter was discussed. He left without making a bet. But it looks like he had somebody make a wager for him.

“I think that we bet 100 on 9.5,” Mayweather told ESPN. “I gave my guy six figures to go bet and I have to make sure he bet because earlier today I went to the sportsbook to bet and they wouldn’t let me bet.”

Even without winning his $400,000 bet, Mayweather did OK for himself. He mentioned to Jimmy Kimmel that he would make more than a quarter-billion from the fight. The exact total won’t be known until all the PPV numbers are tallied up. But it should exceed $250 million no matter how you look at it.

Still it was a great night for sportsbooks. They stood to lose quite a bit of money if McGregor pulled off the win. They would have won a bit more if the fight had lasted another 30 seconds. But they’re not complaining one bit.

“After the dust settled, we finished on the positive side,” said Jay Kornegay of the Westgate. “If it went 25 seconds longer, would have been a little better, but we’ve very satisfied with the result.”