I was wrong with the 105kg! But still looks good
From Today:
It seems with every kilogram David Tua loses, he gains dollars from the punters.
The TAB has revealed boxing fans have had a rethink after initially rushing to back
Shane Cameron to beat Tua in Saturday's big fight.
Bookie Mark Stafford said a big shift in thinking had taken place since Cameron broke
a hand in April, forcing organisers to shift the bout from August to October.
"When we first put the book out [in January], before it was postponed, it was 90 per
cent support for Cameron," Stafford said yesterday.
"We had to refund all bets ... but the interesting thing is all the money we refunded
on Cameron hasn't come back. The fans have obviously had second thoughts."
Stafford said bets flooded in on a Cameron victory when the odds were set in January
with one punter placing $30,000 on the $2.50 underdog. That bet wasn't reinstated when
the books reopened in June, and Stafford said it
reflected a markedly different mood among fans, he believed due to Tua's increasingly
fit physical appearance.
"The more we've seen of Tua the more people are backing him," he said.
"When they announced this fight he was overweight at the media conference
and I guess people wrote him off.
"Every time he appears on TV more people back him and the last two weeks
there has been a big swing back toward Tua. I saw him on TV the other night
watching the netball and within minutes we had a $2000 bet come in."
Tua has said he has lost more than 20kg in training and last month weighed
in at 113kg. The South Aucklander's weight has fluctuated throughout his career,
from 91kg when he made his pro debut in 1992, to 114kg when he demolished Obed
Sullivan in 2000.
Tua was 111kg when he lost to Lennox Lewis in Las Vegas in a world title bout
earlier that year.
While punters are swinging toward Tua, Cameron's manager, Ken Reinsfield, believes
his man will have the favour of the Mystery Creek crowd.
Cameron has fought 17 of his 24 fights in New Zealand since turning pro late in 2002,
while Tua has fought just three times in New Zealand in a 53-fight career.
Whatever the case, Tua is now a $1.50 favourite with Cameron at $2.50.
The biggest live bet is a $15,000 multi on a Tua knockout, the first leg already
coming in on a recent Parramatta Eels win in the National Rugby League.
The fight is part of a massive money-spinner for the TAB this weekend, with the
tote expected to break all records for fixed-odds betting in New Zealand.
"We have the Kelt Capital Stakes in Hastings on Saturday, which is huge, a full
weekend of the Air New Zealand Cup, the NRL grand final and the Champions Trophy cricket,
" Stafford said. "You add in the boxing and it could break all records."
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