How to Bet on Boxing

As boxing’s popularity grows, more and more sports fans are becoming interested in betting on their prized fighters. But many fans, novice boxing bettors included, are unfamiliar with the betting types, odds, and strategies for boxing.

Read this article to explore the best betting types, guidelines, scoring systems, and boxing strategies for exciting and profitable betting.

A Guide to Betting on Boxing

Football, basketball, and hockey leagues are popular choices for many bettors. But boxing matches are some of the most anticipated events in the sports world.

Like the MMA’s Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), these one-on-one contests get more exciting as you start placing stakes on individual fighters.

Boxing bets don’t rely heavily on prediction statistics. However, these stats may help you choose the winner of the match, predict the number of rounds, or anticipate how the fight will end.

Understanding the Betting Odds

Moneyline bets are common in boxing matches. Other boxing betting options, such as a proposition or prop bet, over/under, totals, or parlay, give you more flexibility in your betting experience. Read more on tips for these wagering types here.

Just like other popular sports like basketball or football, boxing’s moneyline odds use the negative sign (-) and the positive sign (+) to represent the underdog and the favorite.

When you see odds with a negative sign, those odds indicate the contestant that’s favored to win (the favorite). Meanwhile, the positive sign signifies the side that is unlikely to succeed (the underdog).

With moneyline bets, bettors pick the side they think will win the boxing fight.

You can also make a 2-way or 3-way moneyline bet. In a 2-way moneyline bet, your stake is placed on either boxer winning the fight. If the match ends in a draw or a push, your bet is canceled, and your stake is returned.

Similar to a 2-way bet, in a 3-way bet, you may stake on either side of the bet. But in a 3-way bet, one of your choices is a “draw” option with assigned odds.

For example, during 2018’s Mayweather vs. Pacquiao rematch, Floyd Mayweather was the favorite to win with -230. Meanwhile, Manny Pacquiao was the underdog with +180 odds.

Bookmakers assign these odds to these boxers to represent the amount of stake and profits you can win when you place your bets on either of the players.

In the example above, if you bet a hundred dollars on Pacquiao and he wins, you will get a total of $280—that’s a $180 profit plus your original $100 stake. Since underdog bets are riskier, profits on those bets are higher than the stake you placed.

Meanwhile, if you bet on Mayweather, you have to bet $230 to win $100. If Mayweather wins, you will get a total of $330. This is your original stake of $230 plus $100 profit.

Aside from moneyline bets, you can make a prop bet in between rounds. A prop bet doesn’t depend on the game’s outcome but on specific details of the matchup, such as the fighter’s performance or referee calls.

Prop bets include questions like “Will there be a knockdown in the fight?” Or ”Will the fight come to a draw or a decision?”

Prop bets can also be bets on individual fighters, like:

• Will Anthony Joshua win by TKO (technical knockout)?
• Will Ben Askren win by disqualification?
• Will Jake Paul make it to round 3?

These props are usually a yes or no decision. You can read more about prop bets here.

Round betting is staking on the specific round a boxing match will end. If you’re feeling confident about the end of the fight, you can do round betting using over/under bets.

Let’s say you want to do an over/under bet on Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders’ upcoming fight. The sportsbook sets the predicted number of rounds (odds) at 10.5. Sports bettors will have to bet if the number of rounds will be over or under 10.5. If the fight ended at five rounds and you bet under, then you win the bet.

You can also place a boxing bet on multiple boxing events. Just choose these events and put them on one ticket.

For instance, you can make the following bets: the moneyline of Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua’s fight, whether Pacquiao will win by TKO, and whether Pacquiao’s fight will go over eight rounds.

This betting type is called a parlay. Parlays are also common in non-boxing events like NBA and NFL. To win a parlay, all of the bets included in the parlay bet must win. If one of the legs of your boxing parlay loses, all of your bets lose, too.

You can also compute the likelihood of a given outcome in boxing betting. Converting the odds to implied probability helps you to know the real chances of a fighter winning.

Learn more about theother betting types here so that you can maximize your betting payouts.

Online Betting on Boxing Matches

Ready to bet on the next big fight? We’ve listed the steps to follow in placing your boxing bets.

1. Decide on a Boxing Betting Site

In choosing an online sportsbook or bookmaker, you have to consider the website’s authenticity and security. After all, you’re risking real money here.

2. Register

Once you’ve chosen your online sports betting site, you need to sign up or register to make an account. Your account will be used to make your deposits, place your bets, and withdraw your winnings.

In registering an online sportsbook account, the following details are required:

• Email
• Full name
• Birthday
• Address

3. Deposit Cash

After you create an account on your preferred sports betting site, you can deposit your stake through a variety of bank methods.

Ensure the security of your personal information before depositing money on any website. The best boxing betting sites offer secure and accessible payments.

4. Start Betting

Once you deposit your money, you can start betting. Shop for boxing odds and look for the best sporting events to put your money in.

Betting Strategies in Boxing

Sharp betting odds are not enough to give your boxing bets an edge. You have to know and apply betting strategies to get the upper hand.

Below are some of the best boxing research tips to help you plan your betting strategies.

• Weigh the Fighter Stats

When you’re betting on boxing, stats are the first thing you should examine. This review of historical stats should not stop at the fighter’s wins and losses. Watch their recent fights and look at the quality of those matchups.

For instance, Fighter A’s stats indicate 18 wins and 0 losses. But if you look closely, those wins are mostly against new boxers, meaning they are easy wins.

Aside from checking these historical stats, you should dig deeper and look at a boxer’s technical ability, speed, power, training partners, camp quality, and training time. All of these factors have a significant effect on a boxer’s fighting skills and performance.

• Learn the Scoring System

Some boxing matches don’t end in a knockout. Understanding the scoring system gives you an advantage when it comes to the judging part of the fight.

Typically, in a boxing match, each round is scored from 10 to 9. A score of 10 is given to the winner of the round and a score of 9 for the loser of the round. If a boxing round ends in a tie or is ruled as “even,” both fighters receive 10 points.

Bettors familiar with the boxing scoring system gain an advantage because they can simply look at the judge’s scores to know which fighter’s chances are better.

• Shop Betting Lines Wisely

It’s not enough to know the odds assigned to each fighter or boxing match. Take the time to understand these betting lines, because they vary for every sportsbook.

Scout some of the sharpest odds at SportsBetting.com. Click here for more betting tips on boxing.

Boxing Guidelines

Before betting on popular boxing matches, you need to be familiar with the boxing rules and terms.

Boxing rules and regulations differ depending on what country you are in. In the United States, the guidelines may also vary from state to state.

Learn the basics of boxing rules below:

1. Weight Classes in Boxing

Boxing matches are classified according to the fighters’ weight. This system evens out the disadvantage of smaller boxers during a fight.

Since 2015, there have been 17 weight classes in men’s boxing. These weight divisions include the following:

2. Boxing Rounds

Professional boxing matches typically last from 4 to 12 rounds, with an average duration of three minutes per round. In women’s boxing, each round lasts for only two minutes.

In some matches, there is an undercard or a preliminary match held before the main boxing event.

When boxers get injured, the referee stops the boxing match and declares collision or unintentional headbutt. Then the judges have to make a technical decision to conclude the match based on their scorecards.

Place Your Boxing Bets With Us

On a federal level, sports betting has been legal in the United States since 2018. Boxers are also allowed to bet on themselves during a fight.

But there are some sportsbooks that set limits to what boxers can bet on, such as betting against themselves and staking during the Olympics.

Though betting on boxing is generally legal, some states have specific regulations regarding betting.