How Do I Go About Betting On Boxing?
As with any sports, when you are betting on boxing, you have to be able to master your fundamentals before you can be considered a contender.
Boxing contains several different divisions, each with their own weight classes and championships, and the rules-of-thumb for gambling apply to each. Picking a starting division is strongly advised, and most people pay attention to the heavyweight fights where there is a wealth of analysis and punditry.
Pick your league, do your homework and you can start placing bets.
What Should I Be Aware Of When Making My Bets?
A boxing match lasts twelve rounds at three minutes per round, giving you a framework to place a wide range of bets. When you’re placing a punt, there are a number of standard bets on offer and variables to play around with. These include:
Number Of Rounds
This means taking a punt on how long the match will last. This is traditionally done using the over/under system. For example, will the bout be four rounds under (i.e. the fight lasts a total of eight rounds), or four rounds over (i.e. the fight lasts sixteen rounds).
Round Betting
Which round will your chosen boxer win? These are often segmented into thirds, i.e. (1 – 3), (4 – 6).
Win Conditions
How will the winner of the match be decided? There are a number of different acronyms, but the most common include:
a) Knockout (KO): When the fighter is hit and loses consciousness.
b) Technical Knockout (TKO): The referee ends the fight due to a fighter being deemed unable to finish the bout.
c) Unanimous Decision (UD): All watching judges agree that the chosen fighter won the match.
d) Majority Decision (MD): When the scores assigned by the judges watching the fight declare one fighter the winner of the bout.
e) Disqualification (DQ): A player has repeatedly or blatantly violated the rules. The disqualified fighter automatically loses to their opponent and – depending on the nature of the foul – other penalties may follow.
f) Knockdown: Will the chosen fighter be knocked down during the course of the bout, and/or when will it happen?
g) Miscellaneous: These will often change on a match-by-match basis and allow you to make specific bets such as the boxer winning in a certain round, timeframe or specific event taking place.
Where Can You Bet?
As with most sports, you can bet on the big-name boxing matches via any online or physical bookmaker. Smaller matches may or may not be covered by your local bookie, but it’s worth asking in any case. Try to avoid ringside bookies who take cash punts at ever-changing odds – they are unregulated and unlikely to offer the best odds.
What Are Some Tips?
Here are some tips to start you on the way toward developing a more comprehensive knowledge of betting on the game:
a) Consider the factors leading up to a fight: As with players, horses, or sportsmen – make sure you know if a fighter is not at their best or is nursing an injury before a bout. Are they in their physical prime and are they ‘hungry’ for the win?
b) Know how important styles are: Know your Swarmers from your Sluggers and your Out-Boxers. Also, make sure you consider how vital hand dominance is in a fight and to look out for ambidexterity on either side of the bet. Nobody wants to fight a switch-hitter.
c) Consider temperament: Like them or loathe them outside of the ring, a boxer’s temperament has a massive impact on how they fight. For example, a controversial fighter such as Floyd Mayweather may not be ‘gifted’ but is extremely disciplined and defensive – making him a solid bet. By comparison, Prince Naseem was a prodigy but often showboated and struggled with restraint – making for a massive spectacle but a potentially unpredictable bet. Know who your fighter is before you back them.
d) Just who did they beat? Don’t ever forget that boxing is the home of the phrase ‘get a few wins under your belt’. Make sure you know who your stake won against and if the past victories were against quality fighters.
e) Ignore the showmanship: Boxing lives and dies on the drama that fights generate outside the ring and people pay as much to see ‘personalities’ lose as much as favourites win. Ignore the drama and base your betting on cold, hard facts. However, also make sure to remember that teams often pick fights to ensure a fighter’s win rate. Look behind the bluster to get a full picture of what is going on.
f) Check out the internet: There are currently a wealth of sites dedicated to fight analysis and punditry. Any video sharing sites will allow you to quickly get a breakdown of your favoured fighter’s last bouts and make sure that they are worth a punt. Gather as much as you can and make sure to sift through it for the gold.
