In 18 days time, all eyes will be fixed firmly on the biggest boxing fight in history as Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor do battle at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The bout between the face of MMA and the face of boxing is expected to break box office records, and despite what some boxing purists are saying, it's a massive deal and that is reflected in the crazy amount of money to have been forked out in bets for the superfight.
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As per Betfair, betting for the fight has already smashed records, with a ridiculous £11.3 million splashed out from their punters looking to make a profit from the mega-bout.
The figure eclipses the previous record set, also involving Mayweather, when £5.7 million was shelled out ahead of his 49th victory, which came over Manny Pacquiao in 2015.
Betfair spokesperson Katie Baylis predicts the sum to comfortably surpass £50 million as the fight draws even closer.
"It's now three weeks until one of the most anticipated fights in recent memory and with £11.3 million bet on the outcome alone already this is now the biggest boxing betting event in Betfair history.
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"We expect this fight to trade well over £50m and could even get to the £100m mark, which would be one of our biggest sporting events of all time.
"Floyd Mayweather Jr is the 1/5 favourite, with Conor McGregor at 5/1. As you would expect most of the money is for Mayweather Jr, however 40% of bets are on McGregor, compared to 34% on Mayweather Jr and 26% on the draw."
Image: PA
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Clearly, Mayweather is the overwhelming favourite but despite McGregor's lack of experience inside the squared circle, he is still brimming with confidence.
So much so, that he is reportedly prepared to bet 1 million on himself to emerge victorious, and is encouraging his family and friends to put their money on him as it's "easy money".
Image: PA
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"Conor is as confident as ever ahead of his fight and he's prepared to put his money where his mouth is," a source a close to McGregor told the Irish Sun, via the Irish Mirror:
"Conor is as confident as ever ahead of this fight and he's prepared to put his money where his mouth is.
"The message to his friends and family has been simple from Conor, he's telling them to get rich off his back.
"He has told a lot of people to back him if they want to earn some easy money.
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"They will have been reassured by the fact that he says he's putting €1 million on himself to win, that's how confident he is.
"We know how accurate Conor's predictions have been in the past and that's why people close to him will find his tip hard to ignore."
The €1 million sum is, of course, peanuts to McGregor given that he's about to rake in an absolute fortune from gate receipts and box office buys from the Mayweather mega-bout, but it appears he is genuinely fixed on the idea that he is going to produce the goods despite the huge uphill challenge.
Will McGregor do the business or will Mayweather make "easy work" of his 50th professional opponent?
Sound off in the comments.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Conor Mcgregor, Boxing, Floyd Mayweather