Boxing
How to bet on boxing for beginners
Boxing is one of the most entertaining sports to watch and bet on, with modern technology bringing infinite new markets for punters to explore. In this boxing betting guide, we walk you through the basics of boxing betting markets down to our expert tips for betting on boxing.
Whether you’re a newcomer or veteran boxing fan, this is the guide for you to navigate boxing odds and boxing betting.
Popular boxing betting tips
Background research
As with any form of betting, when you are betting on boxing you want to ensure you are up to date with the latest commentary around the match-up as well as having an in-depth knowledge of their history.
The best way to go about this for boxing is to review each fighter’s record; what calibre of opponents have they fought? When did they last fight? Are they on a win-streak?
Another key aspect to bear in mind for boxing specifically is the method by which they win, for example Tyson Fury has 33 wins, with 24 of those coming by knockout.
Look for an edge
Picking the winning fighter can often come down to their performance on the night, with heavyweights especially possessing the power to put the lights out with no prior warning. Consistency is key with successful betting and if you spot a discrepancy in the odds then you can capitalise upon it.
For example, if you know that a fighter is 0-3 against southpaws but comes into the fight as a favourite due to his superior record, then it could be worth taking a punt on the underdog. Every fighter is unique and looking for specific angles may give you the edge in the books.
Leave emotion on the side line
As a general rule for all betting, leave your emotions out of your bankroll. When fighters are putting their body and health on the line it’s easy to back your favourite fighter, but this can prove a costly error compared to betting based on research and edge as mentioned previously.
If you believe they have a fighting chance, go for it! But sometimes we let our emotions cloud our judgement and the best bet may not be the outcome we desire. Avoid this common mistake to preserve your bankroll and maximise your chances of success.
Outright Bets
Outright betting is a fancy way of saying: pick who will win. It involves any method of victory as long as the fighter you’ve backed gets their hand raised afterwards.
As an example, for the Anthony Joshua v Oleksandr Usyk II fight, the outright odds looked as follows:
Oleksandr Usyk 8/15
Anthony Joshua 13/8
Outright betting is a good way to cover all bases if you have a feeling who is going to win the fight but not the method they will win it with or round they will win it in. It is also the most common way of betting on boxing, and especially for newcomers provides a higher likelihood of a successful bet.
Prop Bets
Prop betting can include a wide variety of outcomes to bet on, without necessarily backing a certain outcome in the fight. Prop betting can include anything from who will get dropped first to even predicting fighters next opponents before the fight.
Although they can be risky, they can sometimes provide brilliant odds if you back a bet at the right time. Below is an example of what a prop bet could look like.
Fighter to be dropped first:
Anthony Joshua 4/5
Oleksandr Usyk 6/5
Round Betting
If you couldn’t guess by the name, round betting is simply picking the round in which a fight will be stopped by the ref or corner. There are different styles of round betting, with punters most often being able to bet on a specific fighter to win in a specific round, with grouped round betting also available for some big fights.
A theoretical example of specific round betting odds can be found below.
Oleksandr Usyk Round 1 100/1
Oleksandr Usyk Round 2 66/1
Oleksandr Usyk Round 3 50/1
Oleksandr Usyk Round 4 33/1
Oleksandr Usyk Round 5 28/1
Oleksandr Usyk Round 6 25/1
Oleksandr Usyk Round 7 20/1
Oleksandr Usyk Round 8 20/1
Oleksandr Usyk Round 9 18/1
Oleksandr Usyk Round 10 25/1
Oleksandr Usyk Round 11 25/1
Oleksandr Usyk Round 12 28/1
Oleksandr Usyk On Points EVS
Anthony Joshua Round 1 100/1
Anthony Joshua Round 2 100/1
Anthony Joshua Round 3 80/1
Anthony Joshua Round 4 66/1
Anthony Joshua Round 5 66/1
Anthony Joshua Round 6 50/1
Anthony Joshua Round 7 50/1
Anthony Joshua Round 8 50/1
Anthony Joshua Round 9 40/1
Anthony Joshua Round 10 66/1
Anthony Joshua Round 11 66/1
Anthony Joshua Round 12 66/1
Anthony Joshua On Points 3/1
As you can tell, it is unlikely for most fighters that they will win in the first or last couple of rounds, with the odds often tightening towards the middle when fighters are getting a little weary. The odds are often generous, but accurately reflect the chances of you choosing the correct round and which fighter wins.
You can find out all you need to know about round betting here.
Points
Boxing is scored on points, and if a bout goes the distance it is common for title fights to go down to the wire. There is often nuance to counting points, but general rule of thumb is 10 points to the winner of a round, 9 points to the loser of a round, with that being reduced to 8 points if they are knocked down.
Understanding how this works is essential to betting on boxing. You can bet on who will win by decision prior to the fight and get even better odds – just hope they don’t get a twelfth-round finish!
Stoppage KO
Arguably the second most popular betting market in boxing is predicting who will win by knockout/technical knockout/disqualification. Different bookmakers will include different methods of finishing, so ensure you use William Hill to not be disappointed when an opponent accidentally wins by TKO rather than straight KO!
A theoretical example of what this would look like on a William Hill ticket is below.
Anthony Joshua to win by KO, TKO or DQ 5/2
Oleksandr Usyk to win by KO, TKO or DQ 3/1
Note that although Usyk was a favourite for this fight, he doesn’t possess the knockout power of Joshua, and this affects the odds of an early stoppage regardless of who is the favourite.
Over/Under Rounds
Over/under rounds simply involves betting on whether a fight will last over or under a specified point, which is adjusted depending on the likelihood of knockout for different bouts. For example, the over/under may be 11.5 for some veteran lightweights who aren’t knocked out often, while the over/under for some wild swinging heavyweights might be over/under 8.5 rounds.
A theoretical example of how this may look is as follows:
Anthony Joshua v Oleksandr Usyk Total Rounds 10.5
Over 2/3
Under 9/5
Boxing Betting Tips and Strategy
Following on from our popular betting tips, here are some further examples and analysis which can improve your boxing betting strategy.
Find the best price
An example of this would be if Tyson Fury is 1/12 to win outright, but 1/2 to win by knockout, if you fancy him to end the bout before the judges’ scorecards then your returns from a £10 stake would be £15 as supposed to £10.83 if you had backed him in the outright market. This is hard to spot as a beginner but becomes more natural as you become more experienced.
The impact of the fight’s outcome
Different fighters respond to pressure differently, but if you take the average confident professional boxer, the fighter with more to lose may train and fight harder than the fighter who is unaffected by the outcome. Again, fighters are all unique and this is a generalisation, but it can hugely impact the direction and narrative of some fights.
Another slightly different take on that is when fighters are boxing in their home town, with the crowd support and extra motivation it can often make all the difference, or equally pile on more pressure. Check a fighters record for the venue prior to placing your bets if you think it may impact the result.
Look into promotions
Some boxing promotions are more reputable than others, with some promotions throwing some questionable decision results out for the fighter they want to boost. Becoming familiar with different promotions and the typical outcomes of their fights may give you an edge if you can spot a trend.
