Boxing is back and after a quiet spell, the sport is hugely popular again, with huge audiences watching fights live as well as on TV. With huge pay per view events now the norm, it is no surprise to see betting on boxing also becoming hugely popular as people want to have an interest in the fights taking place.
Thanks to this growth we have more boxing markets available to bet on than ever before, and that makes it even easier for newcomers to get into betting on the sport. It doesn’t matter if you are a huge fan attending the fight live, or you are a casual fan watching on TV, you will find a market to bet on and great enjoyment from placing your bet. With many events taking place and being televised, the opportunities to bet on boxing are now available more than ever before and there are weekly opportunities for a bet. This is something else that has drawn a lot of people to betting on the sport, and it is something that doesn’t look like slowing down anytime soon.
With so many opinions surrounding the big fights, people now put their money down and back their opinions up with a wager. Whether it is a small stake accumulator across the full card on TV or a big bet on the main event, you can get involved in many different ways depending on what you are looking for. Should we see an increase in boxing even further then it wouldn’t surprise me to see even more boxing markets created by bookmakers to keep up with the demand for them.
The Main Market
The easiest way for newcomers to get into betting on boxing is to take a look at the main market which is simply who will win the fight. This is straightforward, easy to see who the winner is and a great way for people to get involved.
In this market, the odds will often be very short as it is a two way market between the two fighters. For this reason, a lot of people will place an accumulator on a full boxing card, betting on the boxers they think will win throughout the card. By adding together numerous boxers, the odds increase and this bet becomes worthwhile.
The odds on this market tend to force you into placing a bet on multiple selections but for those looking to get involved in the simplest way, this is the market for you. This is a simple introduction before you start venturing onto more complicated bets and a great way to have an interest in the boxing you are watching on TV, without spending a lot of money.
To Win By TKO
If you fancy a boxer to win comfortably then you can back them to win by a knockout. In this market, the boxer has to not only win but has to force the fight to stop before the end. This gives slightly better odds than the normal outright market and is a great way to enhance your returns if you strongly fancy a fighter to win easy.
The odds on this market tend to be slightly better, but not huge so you may still find yourself putting different boxers together to form an accumulator covering the different boxing matches that you are watching throughout the night.
This is my favourite market to bet on and the one I use when placing most of my bets. It adds excitement to the fight because I am cheering on my money and wanting a knockdown, rather than a tight, cagey fight that goes to points.
This is easy to understand for those who watch boxing and it is not a complicated market to get involved in. However, you do only have one outcome on your side and you need your boxer to win by a knockout for you to collect any winnings.
To Win On Points
When a boxing match isn’t won by a knockout or stoppage, three judges ringside all score the fight and the winner is determined by those scores. They give a score for each round, who has won the round and total things up at the end giving an overall winner of the fight. To win on points a boxer needs to win by two of those three cards, giving them a majority.
Backing a boxer to win on points is tricky, but the odds of this happening are enhanced, especially on fights that are expected to be won easily due to a stoppage. It can be a tricky bet to fancy as you want a boxer to do enough to win on points, but not too much so that they don’t force a stoppage.
I don’t often use this market myself but when I do I always look for boxers who are good but lack the killer punch to knock someone down to the canvas. These boxers often dominate a fight but simply don’t have the power to force a win, leaving them no choice but to rely on a points win regularly.
Stats for wins by knockout are available online in numerous different places so make sure you use these stats when looking at this market. This is much trickier to work out than other markets and this market is best left to those who know enough about the sport to feel a fight is going to go this way. However, the returns are often enhanced and that does make this market attractive to those who want a small interest in a fight.
Round Betting
For those who want a small interest in the boxing matches they are watching, round betting could be the market for you. In this market, you have to choose what round a boxer will win the fight in. Obviously, this is very difficult, but the rewards are big with some nice prices on offer. The prices are big enough to cover a couple of different outcomes if you want to. For example, if I fancy a fight to be over quickly, I would often back a fighter to win in the 3rd and 4th rounds. I usually leave the first round alone as in big fights this is often just a warm-up round, but I have done this successfully in the past.
The market is not one for big stakes as it is very difficult to predict but for a small punter looking for an interest, the market is ideal. Due to the short odds offered on the outright win market, a lot of punters I know see this as the only way to get involved when it comes to boxing betting.
Again, this market may not be for those who are new to the sport and betting on the sport, but if you do have knowledge of the fight then you can use this market to your advantage. When people have opinions on a fight, the majority of people also have an opinion on when the fight will end and that brings this type of betting into play. If you think a boxer is going to win early, then you will certainly have the opportunity to back your boxer to do that.
In Conclusion
When you are looking at betting on boxing, there are two main ways to place your bets. For those that want to stick to the outright markets, accumulators on different fighters to win are ideal for you and can be placed easily with all bookmakers. You can give yourself an interest in a full fight card by betting this way if you intend to watch more than just the main fight on the card.
If you would like to increase the odds a little you can choose boxers to win via a knockout or a point’s decision, instead of just stipulating that they win the fight. This makes the bet harder to land, but winning by knockout is especially popular in fights where a boxer has previously shown he has the power to knock someone out.
For those looking to have a small interest in a big fight then round betting may be for you. Simply choose a couple of rounds that you feel the knockout may happen in and should you back a winner you will be rewarded with big odds from this market. This is very difficult to predict of course, which is why the bookmakers offer good odds on it, but if you do manage to land a winner then it will help to pay for the enjoyable night you have had while watching the boxing.
Boxing is big business again and so is betting on the sport, with fights almost every week live on TV for us to watch and bet on. There are many opportunities out there, even for those without a huge boxing knowledge, and if that is you then don’t let it put you off, there are ways of betting small stakes and having fun while watching the boxing.