William Hill releases odds for Canelo Alvarez and Billy Joe Saunders fight

(Ap)

Everything is bigger in Texas, including the massive boxing title fight this weekend at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

Canelo Alvarez and Billy Joe Saunders will square off in a unification showdown on Saturday night, and there’s a lot on the line. Alvarez (55-1-2, 37 KOs) currently holds the WBC and WBA super middleweight titles, while the undefeated Saunders (30-0, 14 KOs) possesses the WBO super middleweight title.

“Canelo is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters, he’s had the hype machine behind him the whole time,” said Nick Bogdanovich, Director of Trading for William Hill U.S. “But I think Saunders gives him all he wants, I can’t wait to see this fight. I think there’s value on Saunders now given how much his price has gone up.”

When William Hill Nevada first released the odds for this bout on 3 March, Alvarez was the -550 favorite whereas Saunders was listed at +425. Alvarez is now all the way up to -850 to hand Saunders his first career defeat. Meanwhile, Saunders is priced at +575 to pull off the stunning upset. The total is set at 10.5, with the over the sizable favorite at -170 and the under at +150.

Even with the heavy price, William Hill bettors haven’t been shying away from taking Alvarez.

“Canelo draws a lot of money in Las Vegas, he always has,” Bogdanovich said. “Right now we need Saunders, which is rare. Any time there’s a fight in this price range, we usually need the favorite to win cause the liability adds up so fast at +575 or so. We’re high on Canelo straight bets, we’ll always be high on him with parlays. We’ve taken some pretty big bets on Alvarez, it looks like this fight’s handle is going to surpass that Jake Paul-[Ben] Askren fight.”

Alvarez has commanded a whopping 96% of the total dollars wagered among all moneyline wagers against Saunders. That is highlighted by one Nevada bettor who put $110,000 on Alvarez -550 and then another $70,000 shortly after on Alvarez -600 for a total potential payout of $211,666.65.

Saunders, on the other hand, has actually received the majority of the total number of tickets at 71%. The biggest wager on the underdog thus far is another Nevada bettor placing $2,000 on Saunders +575 for a total potential payout of $13,500.

William Hill bettors are split on the total, with under 10.5 attracting 71% of the total number of tickets and over 10.5 seizing 55% of the total dollars wagered.