Sports books rooting for Tyson as public bets Holyfield

      Mike Tyson often says that everybody is against him, but when he takes on Evander Holyfield tonight at the MGM Grand Garden in an attempt to regain the World Boxing Association heavyweight champion, he will have one large group on his side.
      With most of the bets coming in on Holyfield, most bookmakers in Nevada will find themselves rooting for Tyson.
      "I'm going to be rooting for Tyson because the books will need him, but there is a bigger reason," said Nick Bogdanovich, race and sports book director at Binion's Horseshoe. "I think it will be good for the heavyweight division to recapture the magic, and whenever something benefits the (heavyweights), it's good for Las Vegas."
      Tyson, who opened as a 25-1 favorite in the first meeting between the two, will almost certainly go off as the favorite again, but it will be at the lowest number of his career. He was down to a $1.80 favorite at a number of books, including the Las Vegas Hilton and The Mirage. Tyson is a $1.85 favorite at Binion's.
      The bettors jumped all over Holyfield in the Nov. 9 fight, which he won by an 11th-round technical knockout. Many thought it was because of the great price, but even much closer odds haven't stemmed the flow of Holyfield money.
      Robert Walker, the race and sports book director at The Mirage, said bettors have loved Holyfield by a knockout, which was bet down from 4-1 to 2-1. At Caesar's Palace, Tyson has been bet down to $1.65, the lowest among the big sports books.
      "The same sentiment exists now that did before, and everybody is betting Holyfield," said Walker, who said he had already taken "a few" six-figure bets. "Everybody bet Holyfield the last time out because he was at too good of a price. You just couldn't lay that kind of number with Tyson. People still seem to feel the same way."
      Dennis Dahl, the race and sports book director at the MGM, said the fight has received strong two-way action at his book and Tyson is a $2 favorite.
      Dahl said he anticipated most of the money today at the MGM going on Tyson, but he said whatever unofficial handle figures there are for boxing will be smashed by this fight.
      The state does not keep betting figures on any event with the exception of the Super Bowl, but Dahl said the high volume of traffic to the betting windows has convinced him the final total will be exceptionally high.
      "Statewide, I'd guess we could get somewhere around $30, $35 million, which would have to be a record," Dahl said. "That's about half of what we get on the Super Bowl."
      While most of the action is on the fight itself, propositions are extremely popular for this fight. At the Las Vegas Hilton, where betting action has been brisk, bettors have been playing Holyfield by knockout heavily.
      It opened at 7-2 and has dropped to 2-1. More people have been betting on whether the fight will go seven full rounds. It opened with each side at minus $1.20. "Will go" is now $1.40 favorite, and "won't" is even.
      "You get most of your business on the day of the fight, so this place will be crazy around here (today)," said Chuck Esposito, a sports book supervisor at the Hilton SuperBook.
      The Mirage has props on whether the fight will go 2 1/2 rounds and whether it will go 10 1/2. On the 2 1/2 rounds, "will go" opened at minus $5, but has moved to minus $4.50. "Won't go" opened at plus $3.75 and is now plus $3.50.