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As with any sport, off-the-field or court distractions tend to factor into lines on upcoming events. As such we at Gambling911.com have to wonder if all the trash talking by Floyd Mayweather Jr. against Manny Pacquiao could actually give Shane Mosley an edge in his upcoming May 1 bout with Mayweather.
We all know by now that Mayweather - Pacquiao was slated to be the "fight of the century" until it fell apart last month when Pacquiao refused to submit to Mayweather's demands for Olympic style drug testing. With allegations flying about "implied performance enhanced drug use", Pacquiao decided to file a slander suit against Mayweather.
This past weekend, Mayweather, Jr. went on the offensive once more, saying that Pacquiao should get less money should the two finally meet.
"Instead of 20 or 25 (million dollars), he may have to drop to 15 or 17 and you know me, they have to throw that extra 5 or ten on mine and we can rock and roll. Take it or leave it," said Mayweather.
Pacquiao, we are fairly certain, will leave it.
There is a factor that goes into oddsmakers lines called "The Looking Ahead" factor. This is when a team is set to play a less formidable opponent in the upcoming week just ahead of a marquee matchup.
"All the talk is of the New England Patriots meeting the Indianapolis Colts two weeks from now," says Don Shapiro of Gambling911.com. "The Patriots then end up meeting the lowly Oakland Raiders and end up getting crushed as they were paying little mind to this particular matchup, their only concern being a showdown with the Colts. Why even think about losing to the Raiders?"
Often these "subpar" teams become all the more motivated. Shane Mosley is far from "subpar" but he is considered a rather large underdog here.
Mosley is training hard for his fight against Mayweather, but one has to wonder if Mayweather even realizes he is about to step in the ring with Mosley.
Should Mosley win in an upset (the odds at Sports Interaction were currently set at Mayweather -400 and Mosley +250), we might not even be talking about a Mayweather - Pacquiao fight after the fact. All the talk could end up being Mosley - Pacquiao. Mayweather may ultimately find himself just another footnote.
Pacquiao will fight Joshua Clottey on March 13 in what is expected to be a substantially lopsided matchup. Odds had Pacquiao at -556 at press time and Gambling911.com believed this number will exceed -600 by the time March 13 rolls around.
Tyrone Black, Gambling911.com
