Betting public support Mike Tyson in turn vs. Jake Paul

The betting public is overwhelmingly siding with Mike Tyson for Friday’s fight against Jake Paul, which bookmakers say is set to be the most-bet boxing fight in years.

The odds have been stacked against Tyson this week, with sportsbooks reporting upwards of 90% of bets are on the underdog. Tyson, 58, has moved from +225 to +175 this week at ESPN BET, with Paul, 27, listed as a -225 favorite.

The eight-round, sanctioned fight will take place Friday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and will be broadcast on Netflix.

DraftKing sportsbook director Johnny Avello told ESPN on Thursday that it had taken two $500,000 bets on Paul to win.

“As we got closer to the fight, we’re starting to see a lot of small bets on Tyson,” Avello said. “Take a few big bets on Paul, but it’s not going to beat all the bets on Tyson.”

BetMGM said in a statement on Tuesday that it expects Tyson-Paul to be the highest-stakes boxing match in the online sportsbook’s seven-year history, and Andrew Babakitis, a risk manager for Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas, which oversees fight odds, said have been shocked by the betting interest.

“It’s pretty surprising to see how many people are still willing to take a shot at Mike Tyson at this age,” Babakitis told ESPN on Wednesday.

Babakitis said SuperBook had taken “several six-figure bets” on the match, all on Paul. Big bets on Paul also emerged before the fight was postponed from July 15 to November 15 due to a health issue with Tyson. The odds on the match were in the same range before and after the postponement.

Avello was the bookie for the 2017 Conor McGregor-Floyd Mayweather boxing match in Las Vegas, a fight that drew record betting interest, including five reported million-dollar bets at Nevada sportsbooks. Avello said that with legal sportsbooks now operating in 38 states and the District of Columbia, Tyson-Paul may attract even more money from gamblers, but he doesn’t expect the million-dollar bets he saw on McGregor-Mayweather.

“For us, I think it could definitely be our biggest game of the year,” Avello said.

The most popular prop bet on the fight is for Tyson to win in the first round. Avello said DraftKings took so much action on Tyson in the first round that it moved the price from 22-1 to 12-1.

Tyson hasn’t fought professionally in nearly 20 years. Paul, who rose to fame as a YouTube influencer, has amassed a 10-1 record in his boxing career.

Not all states allow betting on the game due to a variety of factors, with the abstentions including New York, Colorado and Pennsylvania.

“I’m shocked at how much this fight is being staked,” Babakitis said. “It almost feels like a joke, but it’s not. There’s some serious money in this.”