Station taking bets again for potential Pacquiao-Mayweather megafight

A year ago, Art Manteris was so confident Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. would fight each other in 2011, he put up a betting line at Station Casinos.

The fight never happened. But Manteris, the vice president of race and sports for Station, is trying again. Fans can bet on a proposed Pacquiao-Mayweather fight, and the ticket is good as long as the fight takes place by Dec. 31, 2012.

"It’s a great event," Manteris said. "The betting line is a hot topic of conversation in my circles. Everyone has an opinion."

Station Casinos began accepting bets two weeks ago prior to the trilogy fight between Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, with the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight opening at pick. But in the wake of Pacquiao’s controversial 12-round majority decision win Nov. 12 at the MGM Grand Garden, early money has come in on Mayweather. He is a minus-150 favorite with the takeback on Pacquiao at plus-130.

"Nothing serious so far, just small stuff," Manteris said of the volume of action on the proposed fight. "The last time we put it up, we took some five-figure bets."

■ PACQUIAO-MARQUEZ NUMBERS — According to the Nevada Athletic Commission, Pacquiao-Marquez III sold 15,498 tickets, producing a live gate of $11,648,300. That was the most tickets sold to a Nevada boxing match since Mayweather fought Oscar De La Hoya at the Grand Garden on May 5, 2007, when 17,078 attended.

The $11.6 million gate is the ninth biggest in Nevada history. Mayweather-De La Hoya holds the state record with a gate of $18.4 million.

In addition, 11,504 closed-circuit television tickets were sold at MGM properties Mandalay Bay, Aria, Monte Carlo, Luxor and Circus Circus, generating $575,200 in revenue.

The pay-per-view numbers still are being calculated, but Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said he thinks the fight will do 1.4 million to 1.5 million buys, which would make it boxing’s second-highest nonheavyweight PPV card and the highest for Pacquiao. Pacquiao did 1.3 million PPV buys when he fought Shane Mosley in May. Mayweather-De La Hoya, the largest nonheavyweight PPV fight, did 2.4 million buys.

NAC executive director Keith Kizer said both fighters’ prefight drug tests came back clean, as did Marquez’s postfight test. The results of Pacquiao’s postfight test are pending.

■ CASAMAYOR FLUNKS — Joel Casamayor did not pass his drug test after his Nov. 12 fight. Casamayor, who lost to WBO junior welterweight champion Tim Bradley, tested positive for marijuana in his postfight urinalysis.

Casamayor faces a fine and suspension for the violation. He is in the process of being contacted by the NAC and likely would appear before the commission in January.

■ ONE MORE CARD — Sampson Boxing was approved for a Dec. 16 date for a fight card at Mandalay Bay in what will be the final local boxing show of 2011. The card will be held in conjunction with the WBC convention, which will be in Las Vegas from Dec. 11 to 17. No word yet as to who will appear on the card.

Sampson is promoting a card today at Texas Station that features two women’s bouts. First bell is at 3 p.m.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.