Floyd Mayweather Heavy Betting Favorite vs. Marcos Maidana

Floyd Mayweather loves betting underdogs and often tweets about his success doing so.

Nobody has ever succeeded in using the same strategy in one of his fights, and it is highly unlikely anyone will Saturday when he steps into the ring.

Money Mayweather will put his perfect 45-0 record on the line on Saturday when he enters the ring to face Marcos “El Chino” Maidana in a fight to unify the WBC and WBA Welterweight championships.

Mayweather, holder of the WBC title, is currently pegged as a massive favorite (-1000 meaning a bet of $10 returns just a $1 profit) while Maidana, who took the WBA title from Adrien Broner back in December, is a distant underdog. Depending on the sportsbook, he is in the 6-1 to 8-1 range as an underdog.

This will be Mayweather’s third defense of his WBC Welterweight belt. Considered to be the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter, Mayweather also holds the WBC Light Middleweight title and the WBA Super Welterweight belt.

But the hard-hitting Maidana (35-3) brings some credentials of his own to Saturday’s 12-round battle. In addition to the WBA Welterweight belt, El Chino has previously held the WBA Light Welterweight title and will be seeking his fifth straight victory with three of his last four wins coming by middle-round KO or TKO.

While the heavy odds favoring Mayweather may dampen the enthusiasm of some sports bettors, there are a host of props bets available that should keep their interest.

Oddsmakers are expecting the fight to be a long one, perhaps going the distance. The odds of Mayweather winning by decision currently sit at -225, while a Mayweather victory by KO, TKO or disqualification carries a payday of +235.

At Bovada.lv, sportsbook manager Kevin Bradley told NBCSports.com Tuesday that he will probably be cheering for a decision victory by Mayweather. That’s because bettors try to find betting value on knockouts and upsets, which seldom come in Mayweather fights.

Not surprisingly, the odds on how Maidana will win remain long, with an El Chino win by decision listed at a lengthy +1500, and a win by KO, TKO or disqualification listed at +850. The odds of the fight ending in a draw are pegged at +2000.

A number of prop bets on the specific length of the fight have also been published. Sportsbooks are pegging the odds of the fight going the full 12 rounds at -270. Odds of the fight being stopped short of the distance sit at +185.

The odds of the fight going over a minute and 30 seconds into the 12th round sit at -280, while anything shorter than that is pegged at an interesting +190. The odds get longer earlier in the fight, pegged at -900 that the fight will last into the second half of the sixth round.

However, an early end to the fight carries attractive paydays, with a stoppage early in Round 2 paying +1200 and +650 if the fight ends before the midway mark of Round 4.