Opening Odds for Manny Pacquiao vs Ryan Garcia

• Manny Pacquiao vs Ryan Garcia is reportedly in the works for later in 2021
• Who’s favored and what’s the backstory for this curious boxing bout?
• Check out the fight odds, analysis, and predictions below

Manny Pacquiao and Ryan Garcia are purportedly throwing down this calendar year. Pacquiao vs Garcia has a lot of question marks surrounding the matchup, including the time/ date of the fight, where the venue will be, etc.

The questions also extend to what possible weight class this fight would take place in with Garcia being a lightweight titlist and Pacquiao being a welterweight world champion.

What we do know is that this cross-division super fight is being mapped out next for both.

Manny Pacquiao vs Ryan Garcia Odds

Odds as of Jan. 26

The favorite in this one is Pacquiao and I can certainly understand why. Manny Pacquiao has won world titles in multiple divisions, has a preternatural level of KO power that translates across several divisions, and he is the bigger opponent, who is very much still among the best in the world.

This fight came as a surprise to some as both seemed on divergent paths for their next adversary.

Garcia looked to be leaning towards a blockbuster prizefight with Gervonta Davis next. Conversely, Pacquiao has engaged in a fair bit of dialogue about a Conor McGregor fight. This was of course before McGregor’s recent UFC 257 TKO loss to Dustin Poirier, which throws cold water on the Pacquiao outing at this juncture.

Pacquiao vs Garcia

Pacquiao vs Garcia pits a 42-year-old established warrior with a cartoonishly deep resume against the surging 22-year-old phenom who is really just beginning to break through into that upper tier.

The former will have an edge in size and power, while the latter has the youth and speed advantage.

Ryan Garcia referred to this bout as “a dream turned reality”, but does this outing turn into a nightmare for the budding young superstar?

Manny Pacquiao vs Ryan Garcia posted just now on Ryan Garcia’s ig

Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/ylgebVfF0Z

— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) January 24, 2021

Ryan Garcia certainly has the advantage in terms of how active he has been lately with competing. The unbeaten Garcia has three straight stoppage victories since Pacquiao last fought.

Garcia last stepped into the ring in January against crafty, established southpaw Luke Campbell for the WBC interim lightweight world title. He would halt Campbell in the seventh round after getting knocked down early in the bout and rallying back.

Manny Pacquiao’s 2021 Return

Despite Manny Pacquiao being out of the ring for a year and a half, he has seemingly remained diligent in his training preparations and waiting for the right opponent to pop up.

Pacquiao last competed against Keith Thurman in a July 2019 contest for the WBA super world welterweight title.

With the backdrop of Garcia getting sent to the canvas by Luke Campbell, many Garcia detractors are questioning his aptitude for withstanding the power of someone like Pacquiao. The vaunted KO ability of Manny Pacquiao might result in an altogether different story.

As touched on earlier, the respective schedules of both men could play a factor in this too. Garcia will likely be benefitting from his active bout schedule, while Pacquiao may have accrued some ring rust.

Manny Pacquiao seems like he has been training regularly, but training camp cardio and in-ring competition cardio are different beasts.

In terms of how odds will start moving closer to the fight, I think Garcia will start garnering a bit more love. I don’t know that the pendulum sways far enough to where he’s the betting favorite but I think the recent rate of activity coupled with the age factor will shift the line to where Ryan Garcia is a bit less of an underdog.