How to bet on boxing

Boxing and gambling have a long and illustrious history with one another, and in today’s age of online betting, the sport has quickly established itself as one of the most popular on the market for customers. 

Betting sites are continuously expanding their markets when it comes to boxing, with most major sites now offering odds on everything from amateur fights to blockbuster heavyweight clashes. 

The following guide will cover the ins and outs of betting on boxing, meaning that you won’t have to wait until the next big blockbuster fight to make a bit of extra cash off the sport. 

Unlike team sports, there is no organised season in boxing. Instead, boxing events are organised by promoters and are often announced months in advance. 

Because of this, some betting sites may even present odds for fights that are not yet confirmed. 

Due to the simple one on one nature of boxing, sportsbooks will offer various different markets to their customers to keep things interesting.

The following are the most common types of bets you will find at betting sites offering odds on boxing: 

Outright winner: The outright winner market offers three simple options- either of the two boxers wins or the fight end in a draw. This is the simplest market to bet on and can often prove lucrative for those with extensive knowledge of the sport. 

Given the nature of the sport, there is often a clear favourite for each fight and there is money to be made providing you are willing to back those favourites heavily. 

Of course, you can never rule out the fabled ‘puncher’s chance’ in boxing, meaning that occasionally backing an underdog could prove to be advantageous. 

Over/Under: Over/Under bets are becoming increasingly popular in sports like football, but they have also become a staple of boxing betting in recent years. 

A boxing match can go a total of 12 rounds, with many fights normally coming to a close in the latter stages of that total. As a result, bookmakers tend to offer over/under at around the 8.5 mark, with odds normally favoring over. 

This is where knowledge of boxing can come in extremely useful. A powerful boxer may pick up a victory in the early rounds of his fight, meaning that a well-placed bet on under 8.5 could put a few pennies in your pocket. 

Decision: Unlike a lot of sports, boxing can end in a variety of different ways, and bookmakers normally offer a market on how a specific fight will be decided. 

There are traditionally five ways a boxing match can be brought to an end: 

Knockout (KO): When one boxer knocks the other to the ground and he fails to respond to the referee’s ten-count. 

Techincal Knockout (TKO): A technical knockout is when either the referee stops the fight in favour of one boxer, a boxer cannot continue the fight, or one boxer’s corner throw in the towel and forefit the fight. 

Disqualification: One of the fighters is disqualified from the fight by the referee for breaking a rule. 

Decision: The fight lasts the full 12 rounds and is decided based on the scorecards of the three judges at ringside. 

Technical decision: The fight is stopped, often due to an injury, and the result is decided based on the judge’s scorecards up to that point. 

Round Betting: Slightly different to the over/under bets mentioned earlier, round betting is when you select a fighter to win and also choose the round in which they will win. This can also be further enhanced by adding the decision to the bet as well. 

These bets can often prove quite lucrative for those who have a strong knowledge of the sport and its fighters and are among the most popular types of bets placed. 

Boxing’s big money marquee fights attract a huge amount of attention and as such, betting sites will offer a wide variety of unique markets on those fights. 

While some of these bets can prove to be big money makers, they are often there just to add a little bit of fun to proceedings and make the fight more interesting. 

In recent years boxing has experienced somewhat of a renaissance, and as a result of that, it has quickly become one of the most popular sports to place a bet on. 

All of the major online betting companies will offer a wide range of markets on the sport, with sites such as Stake.com and Betwinner often offering the most competitive odds. 

Almost all of the major betting companies will offer odds on the big fights, so it will just come down to whichever one you prefer or which one is offering the best odds. 

Several bookmakers will also offer in-fight bets, which can often help add a little bit more excitement mid-match. 

If you are unsure on which sportsbook you want to use, take a look at our ‘betting site reviews’ section at the top of the page.