Learn How to Bet on Boxing Matches
Betting on boxing has always been a part of the game. Through the first half of the 20th century, the sport was intertwined with shady elements of the underworld, and fight fixing and betting scandals were extremely common. Paying off a favored fighter to take a dive allows you to cash in, and sets up an intriguing rematch at the same time, if nobody was the wiser.
Today, fight fixing has been drastically reduced, it still makes a notable appearance now and then. You don’t need to look any further than the Danny Green vs. Paul Briggs bout from July of 2010 to see that for yourself.
Regardless, the point is that betting on boxing always has been around, and it always will be.
If you’ve been looking for some quality information about how to successfully bet on boxing, then you’re in the right place. Use our guide to learn about how to bet on boxing, where to bet on boxing online, and the types of boxing bets that you can make.
How to Bet on Boxing
There are many different ways that you can bet on boxing. For all of the major fights, you’ll find odds and lines available for the fighters involved. You may also find a variety of other potential bets on a particular fight, including over/under on the length of the bout, prop bets about specifics that might occur in the fight, straight bets picking one fighter over the other and other bets where you can pick the exact ending for a match.
—> Also take a look at our 7 golden rules of betting on boxing!
Types of Bets
- Straight Picks: A straight pick is simply choosing one fighter to win over the other. You may not find a lot of boxing bets like this available online these days, this might be reserved more for your unofficial bets with buddies. My guy versus your guy, odds and lines don’t matter, who’s gonna win?
- Boxing Odds and Lines: What you’ll realistically be finding to bet on boxing online are bets based on odds and betting lines. This establishes a favorite and an underdog for each contest. The simple theory is that the favorite is of course more likely to win the bout, and therefore pays off less for the win than an underdog. If you want to make a boxing bet, and you see these odds:
Fighter A: -300
Fighter B: +300
then what it means is that is that Fighter A is the favorite, and you need to bet $300 in order to see a return of $100 on a win. Conversely, Fighter B is the underdog, and you would make $300 for every $100 you bet on a win. These are the principles of odds and how much you stand to earn for all types of bets, and it’s the foundation of betting on boxing. It’s also just another way of showing that a fighter is, in this case, a 3:1 favorite.
Betting on Boxing Tip: Keep in mind that odds don’t always represent who is the better fighter, or how much of a chance one fighter has to beat the other. Always remember that boxing betting odds are made to entice people to bet. The oddsmakers want to get as many people betting as possible, from both sides. That means making an intriguing line that sometimes seems to go against how fight analysts actually predict a bout to go.
- Results: You can also bet on specific results for a pending bout. Going back to the classic match between Fighter A and Fighter B above, you might find specific odds for all potential outcomes including Fighter A wins by decision or knockout, Fighter B wins by decision or knockout, one of the fighters wins by stoppage, the fight ends in a draw, and so forth.
Betting on the draw always provides fantastic odds, usually in the range of 15 or 20:1. For big fights, you might also find individual odds for stoppages in all of the rounds, for example Fighter A wins by knockout in the 1st, Fighter A wins by knockout in the second, and so forth. These bets are harder to win, so you’ll find higher paying odds.
- Over/Under Rounds: When you bet on boxing you’ll also find odds for over/under round bets. These are bets about how long the fight will last, or in other words, if there will be a knockout or stoppage before a certain point.
If two hard-punching, battling fighters are going at it, you might find low over/under projections, such as 5.5 rounds. If you bet on the under, meaning it lasts five or less rounds, and the fight gets stopped in the fourth, you win. If two soft-hitting, slick boxers are fighting, then you might find over/under lines at as much as 11.5 rounds.
- Prop Bets: Prop bets are all of the other various bets that you can make on a particular fight besides the outcome itself. For major fights and events, such as when Manny Pacquiao took on Oscar De La Hoya, you could find a slew of prop bets available. Who would Harold Lederman’s scorecard have winning after the 4th, or after the 8th? Would there be any point deductions in the bout? Would there be any knockdowns? Would there be a ruling that a headbutt caused a cut? Just about anything that you could think about and quantify or prove was available for betting.
Where to Bet on Boxing Online
There are many different websites where you can bet on boxing online. Not all of them are created equally though. What you’re looking for is a place that is reliable and trustworthy, a place that offers action on all of the fights you want to bet on, and a place that offers some incentives for you.
Top 3 Places to Bet on Boxing Online
- Sportsbook.com: Sportsbook.com is definitely one of the best places to bet on boxing online. First, they are one of the most well known names in online sports betting. You know you can trust in them to be completely legit, to pay out, and also to have trustworthy and accurate odds that make sense. Plus, when you sign up for Sportsbook.com, you receive a 50% bonus up to $250 to bet on boxing. That’s a very nice bonus and will give you some extra cash to utilize when it’s time to place your bets. They have both bigger and smaller fights offered, so there’s lots of options, and little downside to using Sportsbook.
- Sports Interaction: (Now for non-U.S. residents only) Sports Interaction is a new up and comer in the world of boxing betting online. There are a few different benefits to using their service. First, they have a fantastic sign up bonus. They offer a 100% Bonus up to $125 when you sign up and deposit with Sports Interaction. So if you deposit $125, you get an extra $125 to bet with, no strings attached! That’s awesome. They also offer a lot of different lines, props and bets, so you’ll have some great choices to work with, and lots of action to take advantage of with all of that free bonus money you have.
- Bovada: With Bovada, you get a 50% cash bonus up to $250 for signing up and making your first deposit to the sportsbook. So if you deposit $200, you get an extra $40 to bet with. Bovada, formerly Bodog but since rebranded for US players and bettors, is a big name with a reliable track record, and their boxing betting odds are very accurate and targeted. It’s a safe place to bet on boxing online with a variety of different options and specials to take advantages of.
Hopefully now you have a bit of a better idea about how to bet on boxing. Yes, boxing, gambling and scandals have all been hand-in-hand for hundreds of years. But today, betting on boxing is safe and more controlled, and offers another fun way to get involved with an event, or to back your favorite fighter. Use the information above to understand the types of bets available, how odds and lines work, and where to make bets on boxing online.
