Mayweather vs. Pacquiao Undercard: Predictions and Updated Odds for Fight Card
So who is it going to be on Saturday night in this century's biggest boxing match, Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquiao?
Will Mayweather stay undefeated? Does Pacquiao have an earth-quivering knockout in him? Is Money going to fight defensively and rely on the shoulder roll, or can Pac Man bait him into attacking and fashion a crowd-pleasing brawl?
And hey, is anybody interested in the undercard?
Contrary to what you may hear around the water cooler, on talk radio, or whatever modern version of those two old tropes you actually use to get your sports talk these days, there is more than one boxing match set to take place on Saturday in the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Of course, those bouts wouldn't even be happening if it weren't for the megafight, but they must still get their due.
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Mayweather-Pacquiao has an extensive undercard for fight fans to enjoy, with two of those bouts also featuring on the pay-per-view.
The televised undercard pits super bantamweight star Leo Santa Cruz (29-0-1, 17 KOs) against latecomer Jose Cayetano (17-3-0, 8 KOs), while the excellent Vasyl Lomachenko (3-1, 1 KO) puts his WBO World featherweight title on the line against Puerto Rican challenger Gamalier Rodriguez (25-2-3, 17 KOs).
Here's a look at the full card, complete with updated odds and predictions for each contest.
| Super middlewight | Brad Solomon (24-0, 9 KOs) vs. Adrian Rene Granados (13-3, 9 KOs) | 10 | Granados 7-1, Solomon 1-15 | Solomon via UD |
| Cruiserweight | Andrew Tabiti (9-0, 9 KOs) vs. Anthony Caputo Smith (15-4, 10 KOs) | 8 | Caputo Smith 12-1, Tabiti 100-3333 | Tabiti via KO |
| Super middleweight | Jesse Hart (16-0, 13 KOs) vs. Mike Jimenez (17-0, 11 KOs) | 10 | Jimenez 11-2, Hart 1-10 | Hart via KO |
| Middleweight | Chris Pearson (11-0, 9 KOs) vs. Said El Harrak (12-2, 7 KOs) | 10 | El Harrak 8-1, Pearson 1-20 | El Harrak via UD |
| Super bantamweight | Leo Santa Cruz (29-0-1, 17 KOs) vs. Jose Cayetano (17-3, 8 KOs) | 10 | Cayetano 16-1, Santa Cruz 1-100 | Santa Cruz via TKO |
| Featherweight | Vasyl Lomachenko (3-1, 1 KO) vs. Gamalier Rodriguez (25-2-3, 17 KOs) | 12 | Rodriguez 12-1, Lomachenko 100-3333 | Lomachenko via UD |
| Welterweight | Floyd Mayweather (47-0, 26 KOs) vs. Manny Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) | 12 | Pacquiao 9-4, Mayweather 20-57 | Mayweather via SD |
Note: Odds courtesy of Odds Shark and updated as of Friday, May 1 at 7 a.m. ET.
Undercard Fight to Watch: Lomachenko vs. Rodriguez
There's really only two undercard bouts to choose from for the vast majority of folks watching the Mayweather-Pacquiao event. The pay-per-view is limited, and both Santa Cruz and Lomachenko should cruise to victory.
However, if you're looking for the next potential star in boxing, perhaps one the boxing world can bank on after Pacquiao and Mayweather hang up the gloves and roll up the hand wrap, then Lomachenko is the one to watch.
In the end, despite the long odds, it may also prove to be the more compelling undercard bout.
For starters, his bout at least has the added drama of being a title fight. Santa Cruz holds the WBC World super bantamweight title, but Cayetano is not in line to pick up any hardware on Saturday. Rodriguez has that opportunity, one that he has had time to prepare for and shouldn't take lightly.
Santa Cruz-Cayetano also lacks luster in that Cayetano was only confirmed to fight within a few days of the bout. While this could make for a wild brawl as neither fighter will likely have time to come up with a tightly controlled strategy, it may just end up being a sloppily contested match. Nevertheless, Santa Cruz insists he's been training hard regardless.
“We’ve been training 100 percent so we’re ready for whoever,” Santa Cruz said prior to Cayetano's confirmation, per Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Every fight is dangerous so we won’t take whoever we face lightly.”
The way the oddsmakers see it, Lomachenko is a veritable lock to dismantle the unheralded Rodriguez. Widely considered one of the best amateur boxers of his time, Lomachenko has proven to be a devastatingly competent pro.
He does already have a loss on the ledger, but that came in a split decision defeat to notable brawler Orlando Salido, a bout in which the latter didn't make weight and threw some low blows.
The last time boxing fans saw the Ukrainian titleholder in the ring for a fight, it was a dominant 12-round win over Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo on the Pacquiao-Chris Algieri undercard. Lomachenko's time in the spotlight continues thanks to another Pacquiao fight, and it's an opportunity he relishes.
"It's an opportunity for millions of people to see what I can do," Lomachenko said Thursday through a translator, via The Associated Press (h/t The New York Times). "It's always good when you know people have confidence in you and want to see you fight."
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