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It was a knockout punch and when all was said and done, the Errol Spence Jr. vs Terence Crawford fight, combined with UFC 291, became the most trafficked day for Gambling911.com since 2017 when Conor McGregor took on Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in a mind blowing event that will likely be tough to replicate.
It goes without saying that the sportsbooks should also have made quite a killing with Saturday's double whammy.
Dave Mason of BetOnline offered up some of the sharp action coming into Saturday night.
"Lewis +195; now +180 Chiesa +130; now +119 Poirier -140; now -153 Under 2.5 Flowers/Matthews; now 1.5."
A few hours prior to Spence Jr. vs. Crawford and UFC 291, Mason provided some insight into his company's action.
"Which combat sports main event will get more action tonight you ask? Currently there is just over twice amount of cash on Poirier (-153) vs Gaethje (+133) than Crawford (-150) vs Spence Jr (+130). Bet count closer - about 20% more bets on Poirier - Gaethje."
The favorite Crawford ultimately stopped Spence Jr. to win the undisputed welterweight crown Saturday night. He scored a ninth-round TKO in the long-awaited superfight.
Spence, 33, protested the stoppage but appeared to lose every round besides the opening frame.
"Like I said before, I only dreamed of being a world champion," said Crawford, ESPN's No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer. "I'm an overachiever. Nobody believed in me when I was coming up, but I made everybody a believer."
Crawford is now 40-0 with 31 KOs.
In the night's other massive bout,
Underdog Justin Gaethje knocked out Dustin Poirier with a head kick one minute into the second round to win the main event lightweight bout at UFC 291 on Saturday night.
The third-ranked Gaethje (26-4) celebrated his victory by climbing to the top of the Octagon fence and doing a backflip off it.
“This chance at redemption was amazing,” Gaethje said. “It drove me to work harder to be ready.”
Mason made a bold prediction late Saturday.
"I predict next week's Jake Paul vs Nate Diaz fight is going to do more action than tonight's Terence Crawford vs Errol Spence Jr fight."
That would be extraordinary.
Paul, a YouTube influencer who tends to attract a massive audience, will be coming into this fight as a -400 favorite to Diaz at +300.
- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com
