Bookie’s lucky escape

LADBROKES Coral said Floyd Mayweather’s victory over Conor McGregor saved it from a ‘bloody nose’.

The boxer’s win in the Las Vegas bout last weekend is reckoned to have prevented a £250m loss for the UK’s bookmakers.

‘It was squeaky bum time,’ admitted Ladbrokes boss Jim Mullen. There was no such good fortune at the end of the last football season however.

Jack Grealish’s lastminute equaliser for Aston Villa against Brighton in May handed the Championship title to Newcastle, costing Ladbrokes £1.5m.

The group posted a 7pc rise in earnings to £158.3m in the first half of the year.