Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Columnist Jeff Haney: This time, all bets are off for Hopkins

Jeff Haney's sports betting column appears Wednesday. Reach him at (702) 259-4041 or [email protected].

Bernard Hopkins vs. Oscar De Lay Hoya, middleweight championship bout, Saturday at the MGM Grand.

Pick the knockout round:

Odds De La Hoya will win by knockout in:

Round 1...25-1

Round 2...25-1

Round 3...25-1

Round 4...22-1

Round 5...22-1

Round 6...22-1

Round 7...15-1

Round 8...15-1

Round 9...18-1

Round 10...20-1

Round 11...20-1

Round 12...20-1

Odds Hopkins will win by knockout in:

Round 1...13-1

Round 2...13-1

Round 3...13-1

Round 4...13-1

Round 5...13-1

Round 6...12-1

Round 7...15-1

Round 8...15-1

Round 9...15-1

Round 10...13-1

Round 11...12-1

Round 12...12-1

If the fight ends in a 12-round decision or a draw, the bettor loses.

Odds from the Mirage.

For Bernard Hopkins, known as "The Executioner," placing a sizable wager on himself used to be as much a part of his prefight routine as donning a black hood and robe for publicity photos. But Hopkins, the longtime middleweight champ, evidently has given gambling the ax.

Hopkins said this week he does not plan to make a large public bet on himself in Saturday's highly anticipated showdown with Oscar De La Hoya at the MGM Grand.

He said he now shies away from doing so because he believes a bet he made with veteran middleweight William Joppy might have affected the integrity of their bout last December in Atlantic City.

Before that fight, the two made a man-to-man bet on whether Joppy would last all 12 scheduled rounds. If he made it to the final bell, Joppy would collect $50,000 from Hopkins, according to the terms of the bet. If Hopkins won by knockout, he would get $25,000 from Joppy.

As it turned out, Joppy did go the distance, losing a lopsided unanimous decision on the judges' scorecards but collecting on the $50,000 wager.

Winning the bet came at a price for Joppy. He absorbed a series of devastating blows from Hopkins' fists, particularly during the final four rounds, and his face was grotesquely swollen afterward -- so much so that Hopkins said he was reminded of comic actor Martin Lawrence disguised in a fat suit as the title character in "Big Momma's House."

Hopkins said this week he was disturbed that Joppy might have put his health -- and possibly his life --in jeopardy in order to collect on the wager.

"Joppy almost lost his life in Atlantic City," Hopkins told the Sun. "It's never the fighter who quits, but the people around him and the corner should know when he's had enough. I don't want anybody to have their judgment clouded because of a bet."

In another big fight that linked Hopkins with gambling, against Felix Trinidad in 2001 he entered the ring with a temporary tattoo on his back advertising an Internet casino.

Hopkins reportedly received a $100,000 fee for wearing the tattoo, which he supposedly bet on himself as an underdog in the bout. He stopped Trinidad in the 12th round to become the undisputed middleweight champion.

Although making a bet in a Las Vegas sports book is quite different from a head-to-head bet with an opponent or an Internet casino venture, Hopkins said he's more comfortable these days keeping gambling separate from his exploits in the ring.

"I wouldn't want to put anyone in a position where because of a bet their manager or their promoter might act differently," he said. "I don't want to put anyone in a position that could cost them their lives because of a bet."

Fight odds

Hopkins-De La Hoya is being heralded as one of the biggest non-heavyweight fights of all time, and the betting action in Las Vegas figures to reflect that lofty status.

"I expect a ton of action on this fight," said Bob Scucci, sports book director at the Stardust. "It's been pretty good so far and I expect the action to get heavier throughout the week."

Hopkins is currently a minus 240 favorite at the Stardust, with a takeback of plus 190 on De La Hoya. (Bettors must lay $2.40 for each $1 they're trying to win on Hopkins. De La Hoya backers would win $1.90, plus their original stake, for each $1 they bet.)

"De La Hoya is one of those rare fighters who draws a lot of action no matter who he's in there against -- and it just so happens that this time he's fighting another very popular boxer in Hopkins," Scucci said.

Early this year -- before Hopkins and De La Hoya defeated separate opponents on a June 5 card at the MGM Grand -- Hopkins opened as a slight favorite, minus 115, against De La Hoya at the Mirage and its affiliated sports books (including the host property MGM).

Shortly after Hopkins convincingly beat Robert Allen and De La Hoya looked flat in a victory against Felix Sturm that same night, Hopkins was installed as a favorite of approximately 2-1 at sports books around town.

"It's been going back and forth," Scucci said. "We put it up a couple of months ago, and the early money was all on Hopkins. Then it started swinging toward De La Hoya, and most recently the action has been back on Hopkins."

Which fighter will get more support at the betting windows between now and the opening bell is up for debate.

Las Vegas sports handicapper Patrick Bartucci (patricksfreepress.com), who likes Hopkins to win the fight, thinks De La Hoya money will drive the odds on Hopkins down into the range of minus 170 or minus 180.

"Don't underestimate the money from Southern Californians coming into town for the weekend," Bartucci said.

Scucci, who did not offer a prediction on where the line will close, did say he expects to write plenty of tickets on the underdog as fight time draws closer.

"The sharp money is going to be on Hopkins," Scucci said. "But typically on the day of the fight, you see a lot of money on the underdog. I would expect on fight day, we'll be taking a lot of bets on De La Hoya."

Most observers, however, think Hopkins will successfully defend his middleweight crown for the 19th consecutive time. In a poll conducted by The Ring magazine, 19 of 20 experts surveyed chose Hopkins to win; only one picked De La Hoya. And of seven staff members at the magazine known as "The Bible of Boxing," six selected Hopkins to win.

In the round proposition, the odds are minus 160 that the fight will go its 12 full scheduled rounds; it's plus 140 that it won't go 12 full, according to the line at the Mirage and related properties.

In other props, De La Hoya winning by knockout is 9-2; De La Hoya by decision is 5-2; Hopkins by knockout is 13-10; and Hopkins by decision is 3-2, according to Mirage odds. It's a 12-1 shot the fight will end in a draw. (See the chart on this page for individual round propositions on when a knockout will take place.)

Stardust contest

Professional sports gambler Fezzik edged David Stratton this past weekend in the first round of the Stardust Invitational handicapping tournament. Fezzik and Stratton, the event's defending champion, both went 4-3 against the point spread in their seven selections, but Fezzik prevailed by winning his best bet, which serves as a tiebreaker.

Fezzik's top pick was the Detroit Lions plus 3 against the Chicago Bears. The Lions defeated the Bears, 20-16, Sunday.

The tournament features 16 handicappers competing for a $10,000 prize. At 9 p.m. this Friday at the Stardust, Vinnie Magliulo, sports book director for Wynn Las Vegas, scheduled to open next year, takes on oddsmaker Jimmy Vaccaro.

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