Possible Mayweather-McGregor megafight gets no takers on odds at Westgate

If a boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor ever materializes, the pay-per-view numbers are expected to be staggering. But early betting interest on the bout has been nonexistent at the Westgate, which posted odds on the possible megafight Thursday with Mayweather listed as a 25-1 favorite and McGregor an 11-1 underdog.

“We’ve had absolutely no takers on either side,” Westgate sports book manager Jeff Sherman said Monday.

Sherman posted odds on the fight between the retired unbeaten boxing star Mayweather (49-0) and reigning UFC lightweight champion McGregor (22-3) with the provisions that the action is for “a boxing match only” and that the fight must take place by May 31, 2018.

“We just said, ‘If there’s interest out there, we can make it bettable,’ ” he said. “Since the fight hasn’t been agreed to, I don’t think people will lay the price until it becomes official. But I could see people taking McGregor as the ’dog at this point.”

McGregor has some power in his left hand and is bigger and 11 years younger than Mayweather, but he’s a kickboxer who has no experience as a boxer. Mayweather is widely regarded as one of the best defensive boxers ever and, in Sherman’s opinion, would dominate the brash Irishman.

“I would expect Mayweather to do what he did to anyone. You can’t get a punch on him,” he said. “It would be a complete mismatch in the boxing ring.”

The roles would be reversed if the two men met in a mixed martial arts cage, where McGregor would likely make quick work of Mayweather.

“If there was an MMA match, we would just flip (the odds),” Sherman said. “But there’s zero chance Mayweather would ever get in the octagon.”

BOOGIE FEVER

The Pelicans’ odds to win the 2017 NBA title were lowered from 1,000-1 to 300-1 at the Westgate after New Orleans acquired All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins from the Sacramento Kings on Sunday in a trade for rookie shooting guard Buddy Hield, a 2017 first-round pick and not much else.

The Pelicans (23-34) trail the Nuggets by 2½ games for the eighth seed in the Western Conference and the likely right to face the Warriors in the first round.

“There’s not a lot of big difference going from 1,000-1 to 300-1. That’s not anything substantial at this point in the season,” Sherman said. “You won’t see the effect of the trade until next year. They have to add some shooters. Right now, they’re just a low-post team.”

Sherman expects the trade to have more of an effect this season on the point spreads in Kings’ games.

“The Kings just look like they’re going for a complete overhaul of everything,” he said. “Who knows what they’re doing. That trade boggles everyone’s mind.”

Sacramento, which also is expected to waive veteran small forward Matt Barnes, already had the highest odds to win the NBA title, at 9,999-1. Sherman said the Kings are the only NBA team that didn’t have a futures ticket on them this season.

“The Kings are just going to be pretty bad the rest of the way out,” he said.

THE DEFENSE RESTS

NBA All-Star Games have traditionally featured freewheeling action until the fourth quarter, when teams typically start playing some semblance of defense. That notion was squashed for the second consecutive season Sunday, when the West beat the East 192-182 in the highest-scoring All-Star Game ever.

“They’re not even playing what you call defense, they’re basically just getting out of people’s way,” Sherman said.

The game flew over the record total of 353½ after it opened at 339½. The teams combined for 369 points in last season’s game, a 196-173 West win, to soar over the total of 315.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.