**ALERT** Good source from my #HeavyHitters Vegas crew alerted me that Floyd Mayweather has laid over $5,900,000 on Heat -7 tonight in Vegas
— Vegas Gambling Steam (@Pregame_Steam) June 3, 2013
Although Mayweather never posted the betting slip for this bet, it is widely considered to have happened.
The boxer had just signed an extremely lucrative $200 million fight deal as well as earning $40 million from a fight that had already gone ahead, so it makes sense that he would have been feeling flush.
It was reported that Floyd Mayweather Jnr placed several bets across nine different sportsbooks in Las Vegas, amounting to a total of $5.9 million.
He was backing Miami Heat to beat the Pacers in game seven of the series to win the Eastern Conference Finals, so a lot was at stake.
Miami Heat were 7 point favourites for the game, despite coming off the back of a loss in the previous game, yet Mayweather backed them to cover the spread, meaning that for his bet to win, Miami would not only need to win, but they would need to lead by 7 points or more at the end.
At odds of somewhere around 11/10, which is 2.1 in decimal and +110 in the American format Floyd would be used to, that $5.9 million bet would pay out $12.39 million – an extra $6.49 million in Mayweather’s pocket.
Like I said, this bet has never been confirmed or denied, which is odd because we all know Mayweather loves to brag about his wins. Then again, he has come out and denied making other bets that had been rumoured, and said nothing about this one.
Personally, I think that if it wasn’t true he would have said something.
Miami Heat Beat the Indiana Pacers
Miami may have been the favourites going into the game, but the first quarter was a blow for blow affair, with both teams netting plenty of points and gaining/losing the lead several times.
It actually ended with the Pacers ahead by 4, the score line 23-19 in their favour.
The second began in a similar fashion, but after 4 minutes Miami took the lead and never let it go.
Their lead widened further and further as the game went on, the score being 52-37 in their favour by the end of the second, 75-55 by the end of the 3rd, and the final score settling at 99-76.
At one point the Heat had a 28 point lead over the Pacers, absolutely smashing the 7 point deficit required for Mayweather’s bet to win, and even the final difference of 23 points was more than 3 times what was required for Floyd to cash.
He had Lebron James to thank for 32 of those points, and Dwayne Wade for a further 21, but the whole team played brilliantly, and perhaps the home advantage was an advantage too.
Miami Heat went on to win the NBA Finals.