Columnist Jeff Haney: Big money coming in on fight

Jeff Haney's sports betting column appears Wednesday. Reach him at 259-4041 or [email protected]

The long-awaited unification fight between Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya is expected to pack a punch at the betting windows.

Like an undersized Billy Conn battering Joe Louis, Saturday's welterweight bout might even challenge Tyson-Holyfield II as the most heavily bet fight in history.

"I think it has a good possibility of doing that, because of the magnitude of the fight," said Gene Kivi, sports book director at Mandalay Bay hotel-casino. "De La Hoya always generates great action, and in Trinidad you have a guy who's fighting for an entire country -- he's a national hero in Puerto Rico."

On Tuesday the fight was listed as a pick 'em at Mandalay Bay, with both Trinidad and De La Hoya minus 120 to win the bout.

The fight opened at pick minus 120 before De La Hoya backers bet it up to minus 140. Enough Trinidad money came in at that price to send it back to pick -- a pattern Kivi figures will play out until the opening bell.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Trinidad becomes the favorite, then it swings back to De La Hoya and finally it ends up back at pick," Kivi said.

The unbeaten De La Hoya has been favored in each of his fights, often by a wide margin.

Since De La Hoya stepped up from the lightweight division in 1996, his closest betting lines have been minus 350 against Ike Quartey last February, minus 300 against Pernell Whitaker on April 12, 1997, and minus 200 against Julio Cesar Chavez on June 7, 1996, in De La Hoya's most heavily bet fight to date.

In De La Hoya's previous fights, bettors who wanted to take a shot on the underdog were advised to wait until the night of the bout, as late De La Hoya money typically drove in from California and then drove up the number in Las Vegas sports books.

This time, in a reflection of the truly international appeal of Saturday's fight, that's not the case. Especially at fight site Mandalay Bay, which is expecting plenty of, ahem, influential (read: rich) hotel guests with strong interests in their favorite boxers.

"A lot of Puerto Ricans will be coming here and backing their guy, and we'll also have plenty of Mexican fight fans who will come in and bet on De La Hoya," Kivi said. "I think it's going to be a great action fight, and a great fight for Las Vegas."

At Sunset Station hotel-casino, one of the most popular sports books among local bettors, De La Hoya is a minus 125 favorite.

"Because you have two undefeated fighters, and because the possibility exists that Oscar may lose this fight, we're seeing a lot of interest in this fight in town," said Sunset Station sports book director Tom Smilanich.

Noting that no official dollar figures are released on any fight, Smilanich said De La Hoya-Trinidad may go down in history, unofficially, as the most heavily bet bout.

Then again, like Conn against Louis, it might make a spirited run but ultimately fall short.

"It's more likely to be the most-bet fight in terms of the number of tickets written," Smilanich said. "As far as the volume of money wagered, well, possibly not. It depends on how much big money we see come in this week."

* ROUND AND ROUND: The De La Hoya-Trinidad round proposition that the fight will go 10 rounds is listed as pick 'em minus 120 at the Mandalay Bay sports book. The fight is scheduled for 12 rounds.

Other props are De La Hoya by decision (5-2), De La Hoya by knockout (9-5), Trinidad by decision (3-1), Trinidad by knockout (2-1) and a 12-round draw (12-1).

Bettors can also wager on when a knockout will occur: Rounds 1-4 are 20-1, rounds 5-8 are 15-1 and rounds 9-12 are 12-1, on either fighter.

Gamblers should shop around before placing a bet, as lines on the fight vary from book to book. For instance, at Arizona Charlie's hotel-casino, De La Hoya backers can get down at minus 110 while Trinidad is listed at minus 130.

* WINNER WITH ANDRE: New York Giants rookie Andre Weathers returned an interception for a third-quarter touchdown, giving the Gi'nts the lead for good and making the house a winner in a key NFL game for Sunset Station on Sunday.

Smilanich said the public was all over the favored Buccaneers at the Henderson resort, and the Giants' victory boosted the book's Week 1 NFL bottom line.

"It was a fun first week," Smilanich said. "The action was great, it was packed in here, and I would say there were no complaints on either side of the counter."

In all, favorites went just 3-11 against the spread in Week 1, generally a good sign for the books. The Rams could be considered a fourth favorite who covered, but they went off as a pick 'em at some books. There were eight overs and seven unders.

* TAKING A REBEL STAND: Let's not call them a public team yet, but the unbeaten UNLV football team is a mere 6-point underdog on the "underground" line Saturday against visiting Iowa State of the Big 12.

Trend lovers will note that Iowa State is 4-16 against the spread in road games under coach Dan McCarney.

Of course, betting on UNLV games is not permitted in Nevada sports books.

* THE LATEST ONLINE: DBC Sports (www.dbcsports.com) is offering a grand prize of one year's instant odds service, a $4,800 value, in its online football contest. DBC Sports is a service of Data Broadcasting Corporation, owners of Las Vegas Sports Consultants, which provides odds to sports books in Nevada and around the world. ... Intertops (www.intertops.com), an Antigua-based sports book, has set a line on which NFL coach will be fired first this season. Cincinnati's Bruce Coslet is the favorite at 5-2, followed by the Redskins' Norv Turner at 4-1 and Bobby Ross of the Lions at 5-1. Bettors can also get 4-1 that no coach will quit or be fired this season.

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