Our Comprehensive Boxing Betting Guide

Posted by Harry Kane on Saturday, October 7, 2023

Following Oleksandr Usyk’s recent and surprisingly controversial win over challenger Daniel Dubois, the sport of boxing (and especially the heavyweight division) has received a much-needed boost. There are also plenty of exciting and unusual fights to look forward too in the near-term, including Tyson Fury’s crossover bout with the big-punching MMA star Francis Ngannou.

Such bouts will create ample opportunities for boxing betting, which remains an incredibly popular pastime in the UK. More specifically, it’s thought that 86.4% of all boxing fans regularly wager on fights whilst they watch, with a wealth of both ante post and in-play markets available to would-be punters.

In this post, we’re going to provide a comprehensive boxing betting guide, which charts the history of the sport and the upcoming schedule in 2023 and beyond. We’ll also explore the most popular boxing betting markets and wager types, while offering some expert tips on how to leverage these to your advantage!

Boxing – A Brief History

Hitting others with different extremities of the body, particularly punches and kicks, has existed throughout the whole of human history, often as the physical expression of aggression. However, less is known about the origins of competitive fighting and boxing matches, although some suggest that it originated in Ethiopia during the sixth millennium BC.

However, the first visual evidence of recognisable boxing emerged from Egypt and Sumer during the third millennium BC, with a relief sculpture from Egyptian Thebes revealing both pugilists in a fighting pose and spectators gathered around them. These Middle Eastern conflicts would have been contested with bare knuckles, with gloves not used until around 1500 or 1400 BC.

Most early boxing bouts were held without rules. In fact, it wasn’t until 1743 when champion Jack Broughton introduced the so-called “Broughton Rules”, to protect fighters in the ring and minimise instances of death. Then came the “London Prize Ring Rules”, which outlawed practices such as biting, kicking, gouging, head butting and continuing to strike an opponent when they were down.

Boxing’s most seminal moment came with the formation of the Marquess of Queensberry rules, which revolutionised the sport and created the type of spectacle that we witness today. These rules included the introduction of gloves and mandated ring sizes, while concepts such as defensive boxing and point scoring became increasingly popular.

Despite remaining a dubious and often outlawed sport for a period, boxing’s modern day, multibillion pound industry evolved from the brutal bare-knuckle bouts and illegal venues of previous generations. As a result, some have argued that the sport has increasingly lost touch with working class communities across the globe, but this accusation is also levied at sports such as football where prize money and remuneration have grown exponentially at elite level.

2023 Boxing Schedule – Upcoming Fights This Year

We’ve already seen some exceptional fights in 2023, including the undisputed welterweight clash between Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr (which the former won convincingly) and Liam Smith’s stunning knockout of Chris Eubank Jr. The rematch between the latter pair was also scheduled for September 2nd, while Canelo Alvarez, Joe Joyce, Tyson Fury and Leigh Wood are also in action before the end of the year. Here’s a glimpse at the upcoming action!

• Zhilei Zhang vs Joe Joyce (Heavyweight) – Saturday 23rd September – London, England
• Jessica McCaskill vs Sandy Ryan (Welterweight) – Saturday 23rd September – Orlando, USACanelo Alvarez vs Jermell Charlo (Super-Middleweight) – Saturday 30th September – Las Vegas, USA
• Leigh Wood vs Josh Warrington (Featherweight) – Saturday 7th October – Sheffield, England
• Terri Harper vs Cecilia Braekhus (Light-Middleweight) – Saturday 7th October – Sheffield, England
• Dan Azeez vs Joshua Buatsi (Light-Heavyweight) – Saturday 21st October – London, England
• Mikael Lawal vs Isaac Chamberlain (Cruiserweight) – Saturday 21st October – London, England
• Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou (Heavyweight) – Saturday 28th October – Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• Chantelle Cameron vs Katie Taylor (Light-Welterweight) – Saturday 25th November – Dublin, Ireland
• Sunny Edwards vs Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (Flyweight) – Saturday 16th December – Arizona, USA

An Introduction to Boxing Betting – What are the Most Popular Markets?

With an understanding of the sport and the upcoming bouts, the next step is to appraise the most common betting markets and wager types. Comprehending these is key to determining value and making the most of your bankroll, as each comes with its own unique balance between risk and reward!

Win or Moneyline Betting

As with most sports, moneyline betting is the single most popular iteration of wagering in boxing, with this requiring you to bet on who you think will prevail in a particular bout. It’s also the most straightforward outright boxing betting market, although the potential for drawn fights means that this isn’t quite an even money wager.

The advantage of moneyline betting is that you don’t have to factor in any additional outcomes of variable. For example, there’s no need to predict the method of victory (we’ll have more on this below), nor do you have to forecast the precise round or time that the bout will end.

However, the simplistic and straightforward nature of moneyline betting can make it hard to find value in the published ante post odds, especially when the two contenders are evenly matches. For example, Liam Smith can be backed at the short price of 4/6 to beat Eubank Jr again in Manchester, while the latter is just 7/5 to spring a surprise win.

So, there’s no overt or clear favourite here, while you cannot make significant money by backing the underdog (unless you’re able to stake large amounts responsibly). Ultimately, the key is to avoid seeking large returns through moneyline betting, instead opting for incremental gains over a series of different wagers.

Over / Under and Total Rounds Betting

Over / under betting is also incredibly popular in boxing, with this type of totals wagering usually applied to the number of rounds that will ultimately be contested during a fight. This is a fun wager that can offer impressive returns in some instances, while is also creates an even money market with just two potential outcomes.

For example, sportbooks will often create virtual thresholds for you to bet on, such as 6.5 or 10.5 rounds. These tend to vary depending on the fight in question and attributes of the two contenders, while such factors will also impact the prices set by bookmakers and the implied probability of each outcome occurring.

Your task is to then bet on whether you think the fight in question will last for more (over) or fewer (under) rounds, based on your research, knowledge of the competing fighters and their most recent form. If you back a fight to end in ‘Under’, you wager will come in if a winner is determined before the sixth round. If it progresses further, the bet will be lost and your stake lost.

Similarly, you can also wager on a group of winning rounds. This simply means that you predict a fight to finish within a particular grouping of three rounds, such as 1-3 or 7-9. Once again, this is an even money betting market that offers value to seasoned punters, who can use their knowledge of individual boxers and their fighting styles to make a more informed selection.

Winning Method

Last, but not least, you can also wager on the winning method that will prevail in a particular bout. There are several ways in which a prize fight can end, including knockout and a points decision (where judges determine the outcome after 10 or 12 rounds). Interestingly, these broad winning methods also include variations that are usually factored in by sportsbooks, making this an incredibly high risk and difficult to call market.

For example, you can bet on a fight to end by knockout (KO) or technical knockout (TKO). The former describes an ending where one fighter is rendered unconscious, whereas the latter refers to instances where a boxer is conscious and often on their feet by deemed unable to continue by the referee.

A ‘decision’ win is determined by the respective judge’s scorecards following the natural conclusion of a fight. However, a bout can also be determined by ‘technical decision’, which occurs when a fight cannot continue due to any reason other than a KO or TKO (such as an accidental clash of heads that causes a damaging cut). If this happens and the requisite number of rounds have been completed (typically four), the fight will go to the scorecards and a winner declared.

Obviously, different winning methods will be more likely depending on the respective styles of each boxer and how they’re likely to gel in an individual bout. For example, Floyd Mayweather was a technically astute and defensively oriented boxer who would win the majority of his bouts (especially later in his career) on points, whereas Russian light-heavyweight Artur Beterbiev has won all 19 of his professional fights by either knockout or technical knockout.

Our Expert Boxing Betting Tips – How to Make the Most of Your Bankroll

At this stage, all that’s left is to provide some insightful betting tips to help you negate these markets and leverage them successfully to your advantage. Many of these tips may also be universally applicable across all iterations of sports betting, of course, but we’ll explain their specific relevance in relation to boxing!

#1. Don’t Overlook the Undercard

While it’s always headline bouts that dominate column inches and betting markets, each fight of this type will be supported by an undercard featuring several different contests. While some of these bouts will be more competitive than others, they tend to feature less-known boxers who create a unique opportunity to extract greater value from individual sportsbooks. Certainly, if you have knowledge of specific undercard fighters and their form or methodology, you may be able to identify value in published odds and earn an optimal profit through straightforward moneyline betting!

#2. Target Over/Under Betting in Rematches

Rematches are interesting affairs in boxing, as the odds are influenced directly by the previous result and winning method. For example, Liam Smith’s odds of stopping Chris Eubank Jr in the first six rounds are much shorter following his fourth-round stoppage in the first fight, but the respective attributes of the two fighters mean that a late stoppage or points decision are still more likely outcomes. So, in this instance, you could consider backing the fight to last 10.5 rounds or over, creating additional value and potentially higher returns without necessarily scaling your risk. Just remember to keep key datasets in mind at all times, and never lose sight of the two fighters involved and their respective strengths (or weaknesses).

#3. Remember That Styles Make Fights

This remains the number one rule in boxing and boxing betting, as while recent form and pedigree are key datasets, contrasting styles can have a significant bearing on the outcome of bouts and may actively increase the chances of an upset occurring. For example, a clash between an aggressive, front-foot fighter and a skilled counterpuncher creates a fascinating contrast, with the former more likely to win by KO or TKO if they impose their style and the latter hoping to leverage their superior movement to secure a points win. Make no mistake; understanding such nuances and the impact of competing styles can significantly benefit your betting activity, while unlocking more effective winning method or over/under wagering over time.

The Last Word on Boxing Betting

So, there you have it; our comprehensive boxing betting guide and exploration of the categories core wagering markets and bet types. When combined with a list of upcoming boxing events and some tips expert betting tips, this guide can hopefully help you to make the most of your starting bankroll and leverage the full range of available markets to your advantage!