Canelo-Golovkin Betting Report
Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez meet again on Saturday with the World Middleweight Championship on the line. John Murray, manager at the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook, and John Avello, executive director of Wynn Las Vegas' race and sports book, offered some insight on how bettors are approaching the marquee boxing match.
Odds: Golovkin -155/Alvarez +135
It's been nearly one year to the date since Golovkin and Alvarez stood toe to toe at T-Mobile Arena. An anticlimactic split draw in the original meeting sets the stage for a highly-anticipated rematch on Saturday at the same venue in Las Vegas, though there's been no shortage of drama sandwiched in between.
A second fight originally slated for May was put on hold after Alvarez failed a drug test for clenbuterol and the Nevada Athletic Commission suspended him.
Golovkin closed as a -160 favorite in some shops during the first clash, and he's once again the chalk pick for Saturday.
Murray said he took an $18,000 bet on Canelo on Aug 19, which at the time was the highest wager he had received. However, a $20,000 bet on Alvarez at +125 trumped that number on Thursday.
"(The August bet) moved Golovkin down to -140 and we took some pretty big bets on Triple G. Sixty percent of the tickets are on Canelo. He's more popular in the boxing public, so it's not a big surprise."
Murray acknowledged that his book will be rooting for Golovkin.
"Right now we need Triple G for a five-figure decision," he said.
Alvarez (49-1-2) hasn't lost since 2013, a bout against Floyd Mayweather when the Guadalajara, Mexico native was 23 years old. He proceeded to win seven straight fights - four through knockouts - before the controversial split decision with Golovkin.
Triple G (38-0-1) is four-plus months removed from a second-round knockout win over Vanes Martirosyan at the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. Alvarez, who's eight years younger than Golovkin, was an early favorite of the betting public, and he's tasked with handing the Kazakh his first loss.
"The early money has come in on the underdog Alvarez, which hasn't surprised me," Avello said. "We opened Golovkin at -160 and moved it to -145/+125, but I do not expect that to hold."
The card is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET and costs $84.99 on pay-per-view.
If you're interested in betting the duration of the match, here's what some offshores are offering on the rounds:
Bookmaker: over 11.5 (-235)/under 11.5 (+195)
Bovada: O9.5 (-350)/U9.5 (+230)
BetOnline: O11.5 (-240)/U11.5 (+190)