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There will be plenty of people in the Philippines betting on their native son Manny Pacquiao leading into Saturday night's big bout with golden boy Oscar De La Hoya.
The Sun.Star chanced upon an STL collector stationed in the city's west district busy accepting "small bets" for the non-title bout.
Bettors wouldn't want to compromise their "patriotism" and being "Filipino", he told the paper. He has been offering side bets on how many rounds this fight will go. Nobody in the Philippines will be betting on De La Hoya..or at least they won't admit it.
Manny Pacquiao is slowly but steadily catching up on Oscar dela Hoya as far as the odds to Saturday's "Dream Match" is concerned.
"Manny's so happy he didn't have to make weight. He's really happy and he's smiling all the time. He's been eating good," said his trainer Freddie Roach.
"But I don't think about the odds," Pacquiao said.
The best odds on Manny Pacquiao could be found at Sportingbet.com, which does take bets from the Philippines but not US citizens. They were offering odds on Pacquiao at +180 Thursday morning and this number was likely to be slashed further through the day Saturday. The payout would be US$180 for every US$100 bet.
Pacquiao said in a press conference this week that he believes that his strength, speed and power will carry him through the fight, and overcome the biggest challenge of his life.
"I'm not worried. I have strength and power. We just wait for Saturday," he said.
"You know I respect Oscar he's a good fighter. I respect all the fighters I face," said Pacquiao, who recalled his fight against Marco Antonio Barrera in 2003 when he was a 4-1 underdog.
"Nobody expected I could win that fight," he said
Alistair Prescott, Gambling911.com
