Sports betting and boxing have been closely related for decades, likely dating back to the early days when men would beat each other with bare knuckles in pubs. Even though organized crime made the entire process more complicated, casino sportsbooks started to take significant action on the fighting sport in the 1960s and 1970s when Las Vegas started to draw more high-profile fights.
It’s now easier than ever to wager on boxing thanks to the growth of online sportsbooks, however it’s not any simpler to turn a profit. Additionally, boxing betting has remained popular even if it isn’t as popular in the United States as it was in the 1910s when Jack Johnson was winning knockouts or in the 1960s and 1970s when Muhammad Ali was soaring to fame.
Here’s what you need to know about boxing betting and how to start taking part in this age-old custom at our top boxing bookmakers. To do it, you don’t even need to visit a large Las Vegas sportsbook or a seedy bar. You can now do it from the convenience of your own home.
Is it possible to bet on boxing?
You can even bet on some of the least significant undercard fights on the smallest of fight cards. Just because Canelo Alvarez, Terence Crawford, Tyson Fury or anybody else on boxing’s pound-for-pound list isn’t in action that weekend, that doesn’t matter. About every week, plenty of bets can be made in boxing.
You may wager on boxing, yes. Gamers can bet on baseball, football, soccer, horse racing, cricket, snooker, and esports at online sportsbooks. You can be certain that these shops will gladly accept your wagers on combat sports.
However, keep in mind that the bookmakers will set odds at the last minute unless a significant boxer shows up. Sometimes, Saturday boxing matches aren’t listed on the betting boards until the Monday before, and sometimes, odds aren’t available until a day or two prior to the first round bell ringing.
You can only place bets on the moneylines for certain of the biggest fights until the week of the event, when more prop bets start to appear. The number of alternatives offered and the fights that have prop bets are likewise variable between the books. There are instances when you can only wager on the moneylines. That’s just the way boxing betting operates.
How to Place Moneyline Bets in Boxing
The easiest approach for betting on boxing is to place a wager on the moneyline.
For a fight, sportsbooks give each fighter a number. The fighter with a negative sign before their number is the favorite. A + sign is in front of the underdog’s. The plus sign indicates how much you would gain if you wagered $100 on the fight, while the minus sign indicates how much you would have to wager to win $100 on the outcome.
Selecting the right winner is all that is required to win this wager. The amount of money you win if you get it right depends on the moneyline.
For example, you would need to bet $500 to profit $100 if Muhammad Ali defeated Tyson Fury, who is a -500 favorite (also known as a 5/1 favorite). You would win $300 on a $100 wager if Fury pulled off the upset against Ali, who was a +300 underdog (sometimes known as a 3/1 underdog).
The sportsbooks may make both moneylines -105 for a pick’em fight that indicates to the gambling community that there is a 50/50 chance of a winner. In this manner, regardless of the winner, the book would profit. In contrast to other sports, a true pick’em moneyline is rare. Moneylines of -300 and +225 may be found in even a bout that is often regarded as competitive.
However, there is movement in the moneylines (as well as the prop bets we discuss below). If more people think Ali will win and are prepared to risk that -500 bet, bookmakers may increase their odds even further to encourage people to bet on Fury. That line might be increased to -550, which would suggest that you would now need to bet $550 to win $100.
However, managers could shorten Fury’s odds to make them less valuable if more money is wagered on that line and bettors believe that Fury at +300 is a good deal. The line might be lowered to +250, which would mean that your $100 wager would now only yield $250.
It wouldn’t change how much you would win if you bet on Fury to win at +300 and the book changed it to +250. For a Fury upset, you would still make $300 regardless of where his moneyline was at the start of the bout.
How to Place a Boxing Props Bet
To entice customers to risk even more money, sportsbooks frequently provide prop bets for bigger bouts. Because prop bets are less likely to occur, they yield higher payouts than straight-up moneylines. Here are a few boxing prop examples.
Fighting outcomes
In other words, there are essentially five possible outcomes. By stoppage (either by knockout, technical knockout, or disqualification), Fighter A can prevail. By stoppage, Fighter B can prevail. Fighter A may prevail through a technical decision, split decision, or unanimous decision. By choice, Fighter B may prevail. Alternatively, a draw could occur.
All five outcomes are available for betting.
For example, Fury would be +1000 to win by stoppage and +800 to win by decision, whereas Ali may be +150 to defeat him by knockout and +125 to defeat him by decision. +2000 may be a draw. In this manner, you would win $1,000 on a $100 betting if you placed a gamble on the prop bet that Fury would knock out Ali.
Round Betting:
Selecting the round or set of rounds in which a fighter will be stopped is another method to profit even more from a wise choice.
You could bet on Ali to stop Fury in rounds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12 in the scenario above, and you could bet on Fury to do the same. Ali’s odds of winning by KO in the fifth round are +1400, while Fury’s odds of winning by KO in the second round are +5000. Naturally, these are longshot wagers, but you stand to gain a sizable sum of money if you win.
If you wish to wager on groups of rounds to increase your chances of winning for a little less money, sportsbooks will provide them. In rounds 1-4, 5-8, or 9-12, for instance, you may wager on Fighter A to prevail via knockout. Or you may bet on him to win rounds 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, or 10-12 by stoppage. Also, books will sometimes include rounds 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, and 11-12.
Of course, hitting a round group is a little bit simpler when there are more rounds. Therefore, it would be less profitable to wager on a stoppage in rounds 1-6 than it would be to wager on a KO in rounds 1-3.
As usual, the prominence of the conflict determines the variety of odds. Prop bets in the majority of mid-level or low-level bouts aren’t this detailed.
Over/Under
Just as in basketball or football, you can wager on the Over/Under in boxing. The number of rounds the fight would last is indicated by the Over/Under in this instance.
The Over/Under in our Ali vs. Fury example might be 9.5 rounds. “Under” bettors would prevail if a fighter won by knockout or TKO, was disqualified, or the bout ended for any reason before the 1:30 mark of the tenth round. However, the “over” would win if, for example, Ali knocks out Fury with 75 seconds remaining in the tenth round or if the bout goes the full distance.
You can also wager on whether the bout will last the whole distance, or, to put it another way, if both competitors will still be standing when the fight is over and a decision victory or a draw is declared.
How to Make Smart Boxing Bets
Yes, even if you don’t think of yourself as a savvy bettor, you can still win money. However, the odds are physically stacked against you, and it will never be simple. Las Vegas is able to construct enormous casinos for a reason, and internet sportsbooks have infiltrated your favorite podcasts and TV shows with costly marketing buys.
You Must Take Note
There are far more chances to win for fight fans who get in to bet on only the biggest events. Do you just pay attention when Roy Jones Jr. and Mike Tyson are facing off? It will be challenging to have a solid understanding of the boxing scene if that is the case.
Try to limit your betting to sports you are familiar with. You must stay up to date if you wish to wager on boxing.
What exactly is a parlay in boxing?
A parlay is an extremely large wager that combines several wagers, just like other forms of sports betting. The payout will always be greater even when winning parlays is difficult.
This is a great illustration of how you could have profited from a major boxing event back in October 2022.
Defending his unchallenged lightweight title against George Kambosos was Devin Haney. It was a -200 bet to take Haney to win by decision, even though he was a -1000 favorite.
After losing to Tyson Fury twice in a row, Deontay Wilder made his debut appearance against Robert Helenius. Originally a -800 favorite, Wilder’s odds decreased to -138 if you chose him to win via knockout in rounds 1-6.
When you bet on Claressa Shields to defeat Savannah Marshall by decision, the odds went to +120, even though she was a slight -120 favorite.
Since all three betting outcomes materialized, combining all of those wagers into a three-leg parlay paid off at roughly +300.
Note: Parlays can be quite profitable because they are difficult to win.
Look Around for the Best Deals
Not all online bookmakers determine their odds in the same way. As an underdog against Ali, Fury may be listed as +300 in one book, +325 in another, and +290 in a third. You should take Fury at +325 if you believe he would defeat Ali since you would profit more than you would at the other two books.
To get the best value for your wager, it could be worthwhile to invest an additional ten minutes in examining many online sportsbooks.
Would You Place a Bet on Celebrity Boxing?
Jake Paul vs. Anderson Silva, one of the largest celebrity boxing events ever, took place on October 29, 2022, and the bookmakers were eager to place as many prop bets as they could.
The majority of boxing analysts consider celebrity boxing to be a circus, even though Jake Paul has gained legitimacy in the last year or two. You might as well place a wager on it if you’re looking for fights with YouTubers, former NFL players, or former professional MMA fighters hoping to earn a living in the boxing ring.
However, because the majority of these fighters are new to boxing, it’s nearly difficult to predict what will happen once, for example, former NFL running backs Adrian Peterson and Le’Veon Bell put on boxing gloves and enter a ring to fight.
It’s difficult enough to wager on boxing. Making money by placing bets on celebrity boxing is difficult.
