Betting on Boxing 101: Understanding Odds, Strategies, and More

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Boxing and sports betting are two practices that have been linked together possibly from the early time when boxing was a mere assailing of people in bars and alleys. The early part of the sixth decade and the seventies were the most prolific as Las Vegas became the venue for most high profile fights and big casino sportsbooks were taking heavy bets on these contentious fights even if miseries of organized crime were not far away. While the current technological advancements in the sports booking industry has eased the process of betting on boxing than ever before, a serious challenge is making money out of it. Boxing for the most part may not be as popular as it used to be in the United States during the time of Jack Johnson or Muhammad Ali, however, betting on it definitely still does. This is what you ought to know about boxing betting and how to get into this and practice this long-stipulated tradition at our suggested boxing betting websites; no need to go to a bar or to a Las Vegas or an offshore sportsbook; you can do it online from wherever you are.

Is Boxing Betting Possible?

Yes, boxing betting is possible, however more on this later in the page. Baseball, football, soccer, horse racing, cricket, snooker, esports, and more; you can be certain that those bookmakers are more than willing to accept your betting money on combat sports.

Indeed, you can wager on some of the nastiest undercard scraps on the most insignificant of the fight cards. Finally, just because top fighters on boxing’s pound-for-pound list is not in action that particular weekend, it is not an issue. Actually, in boxing, lots of opportunities to make bets can be found approximately each week.

But, pray, bear it in mind that if a significant boxer does not take the fight, the sportsbook will only release the odds shortly before the bout’s start. Boxing events on Saturday sometimes do not appear on the betting boards until Monday, and at times, you cannot get the odds until one or two days to the first-round bell.

For most of the decisions, only money lines are available for betting until the week of the fight in which more props enter the game. The books also vary on which fights include prop bets and how many are given. These are moments when you can only bet the money lines. Well, that is how boxing betting is organized or rather takes place.

How to Place Moneyline Bets on Boxing

Picking the moneyline is the most fundamental way of betting boxing. In a bout, the sportsbooks give each fighter a number; the one favored to win is prefixed with a negative sign while the second fighter receives a positive sign. The minus sign in this case shows the amount of money you have to lay to get 100 dollars while the plus sign, the amount you receive when you lay 100 dollars. To win you simply need to choose the winner of the match correctly.

For close contests, negative probabilities like -500 for Muhammad Ali against Tyson Fury mean if you want to place a bet of $100, you would need to risk $500 to win $100 for the favorite. On the other hand, if Fury is a +300 underdog the $ won on the bet would be $300 in the event Fury surprises everyone by winning the bout. On the other hand, on a 50-50 pick-em condition, the sportsbooks may offer both money lines at -105 expecting to make a profit in either case. True pick ’em moneylines are practically nonexistent, however, fights with more balanced moneyline values such as -300 and +225 can still happen in a competitive fight.

Moneyline is not a fixed number; they change with the flow of bets placed on them. If more money went on Ali at -500, the line even might change to +550 as an attempt to lure more bets on Fury. On the same note, if Fury has +300 odds which many people place their bets on, then they may be slashed to -250. Crucially, once you backed your choice, movement on the moneyline will not alter your expected earnings. If you wager on Fury at a  +300 and it moves to +250 you will get $300 if Fury beats Ali.

How to Place Prop Bets on Boxing

In major fights sportsbooks often give out prop bets to encourage more money to be bet on the fight. Basically for prop bets they pay out more than the money lines since they are rare incidents that happen. Below is the list of some examples regarding the boxing prop bets.

Fight Outcome

Consequently, when a boxing match starts, there are only five ways the bout can go. The ways by which Fighter A can triumph include knock-out, technical knock-out as well as disqualification. Thus, Fighter B can win by stoppage. Thus, Fighter A may win by a decision of all three judges, or two to one, or technical decision. Fighter B can win this fight via the decision. Or the fight can produce a stalemate. You can bet on any of the five given alternatives. For instance, Ali could have +150 to knock out Fury while having +125 to triumph in decisions, while Fury can have +1000 to triumph by stoppages and +800 by decisions. And an average of a draw could be stated as +2000. Therefore, if you put down $100 on the prop bet of Fury knocking down Ali you stand to make $1,000.

Round Betting

The second type that will add to the probability of increased winnings originating from a correct pick involves betting on the particular round or more, and or group of rounds in accordance with which a particular boxer will be stopped. In our previous example, you might put your money on Ali to knock out Fury in rounds 1-12, or on Fury to do the same to Ali. For example it may give +1400 on Ali if he wins by knockout in 5th round or +5000 on Fury if he wins by knockout in 2nd round. They are rather daring, but beneficial if you wish to score big. Moreover, the round grouping is another aspect that sportsbooks provide their players which, while making you pick several rounds, may help you to win but slightly affect the odds of your probability. It is important to bet on Fighter A to win by knockout in rounds 1-4, 5-8 or 9-12, or within segments such as 1-3, 4-6, and 7-9 or 10-12. Occasionally, books may provide even further subdivisions such as rounds 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10 and 11-12. Of course it becomes easier to cover the grouped-round bet with the inclusion of additional rounds; thus a bet on a stoppage in rounds 1-6 will be less valued than a bet on a knockout in rounds 1-3. The availability depends on the fight’s importance, and most of the mid-level or low-level bouts don’t have such a choice of prop bets.

Over/Under

There is also totalizing in boxing and this is like betting on the Over/Under as seen in football or basketball. Over/Under in this case is a Vegas bet that relates to the number of rounds the fight will proceed for the duration. For example, in our Ali vs. Fury fight, the Over/Under can be between 9.5 rounds of the battle. In case the fight is stopped by Knockout, Technical Knockout, Disqualification or any other circumstances prior to 1:30 in the 10th round, the “under” bet will be the winner. On the other hand, if Ali dispatches Fury within 75 seconds to the end of the 10th round or if the fight reaches its conclusion then the persons who bet on the ‘over’ side would be the winners. Also, there are prop bets on how long the battle will last; in most cases, bets are placed on if the fight will go into a decision or draw situation.

Strategic Betting in Boxing

Yes, it is doable to get profit without meditating yourself as an expert in betting. But this is not going to be a walk in the park and the statistical probabilities are all against you. This is why Las Vegas can construct enormous casinos, and why electronic sporting institutions overwhelm your television and preferred podcasts with expensive commercials.

You Have to Pay Attention

The fight fans that only wager on big events fail to realize that there are so many other ways in which they can win. So, are you watching only when Mike Tyson fights Roy Jones Jr? If so, it will be rather difficult to comprehend the general picture of the situation in the integrated field of boxing. Hence, it is recommended that bettors should only bet on the sports they know well. If you want to bet on boxing, you require boxing updates.

What is a Boxing Parlay?

Similar to other forms of sports betting, it is possible to place more than one bet on the same event and the arrangement of stakes is known as a parlay. Parlays are nevertheless hard to win but the amount of money to be won is considerably higher. For instance, the big weekend of boxing in October 2022 entailed a good parlay be it straight or prop. Devin Haney wrapped up his fight against George Kambosos for the undisputed lightweight title; despite the fact that Haney was the overwhelming -1000 favorite, he wagered -200 to win by decision. Although they seemed to be promising, changing the option from Wilder to win by KO in rounds 1-6 had reduced the odds from -800 to -138. Moments before Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields entered the ring slightly -120 to defeat Savannah Marshall the +120 was if you bet on her to win by a decision. These bets when taken in a three-leg parlay paid out about +300 since all of the predictions in the bet came through. However, a point must be made that parlays are rather difficult to win, which is why such outcomes can be so lucrative.

Shop Around for Best Prices

It is necessary to understand that not all online sportsbook platforms offer the same line on the same match. For example, one book might have Fury as a +300 underdog against Ali, another might have it at +325, and finally a third one might offer +290. In the event that you understand that Fury has better chances of winning against Ali, then it is wise that you wager at +325 because it has the highest possibility to payout the most. Taking an extra 10 minutes to compare multiple online sportsbooks can make a huge difference in the amount of value you derive from your wager since you could have placed the wager with the site that has the best odds.

Is Betting on Celebrity Boxing a Good Idea?

Capped off by perhaps one of the biggest celebrity boxing matches in history, rousing Jake Paul against Anderson Silva on October 29, 2022, one could expect that the sportsbook would saturate the market with a plethora of prop options. Jake Paul has attempted to obtain credibility within the boxing community despite his prior fame from the internet, but celebrity boxing is still often a show. If you are interested in the bouts where YouTubers fight, the former NFL players participate or the MMA fighters hoping to get rich quickly, it can be rather entertaining to bet on the fights. Though, as many of these competitors are relatively new to boxing, the development of forecasts could hardly be more challenging. For example, when two former NFL running backs Le’Veon Bell and Adrian Peterson enter the wrestling ring the outcome is always a toss-up. If the general boxing betting is a tricky affair, then putting your money on the fighters involving celebrity boxing is even more difficult to make the cash back.