Boxing: How to play it and how to bet on it
Boxing is one of the oldest sports on the planet. The first official boxing competitions date back to 688 BC and were held at the ancient Olympic Games. Boxing is extremely popular all over the world to this day due to its passion, full dedication of fighters and wide coverage. The spectacle of this sport is hard to overestimate, as well as how many bets are placed on boxing around the world. No wonder some boxers are considered the richest people in the world - their fees are in the millions of dollars, not least because of the barrage of bets on boxing.
At the same time, it is worth distinguishing between professional boxing and amateur boxing. This article will look at the professional sport, as it is more accessible for betting. Amateur boxing appears in the betting lines mainly during the Summer Olympics.
Types of boxing bets
Betting on the outcome. In boxing, as in any competition, there is a winner and a loser. Betting on the outcome in boxing is the main type of bet. Often in the betting lines, there is only one (victory of one or second boxer). However, there are cases of fixing draws (rarely).
In the betting lines, it is worth paying attention to the presence of a draw. If there isn’t one, it is better to see the rules of the bookmaker - how it calculates the bet in boxing, if there is a draw.
Betting on rounds totals. In professional boxing, there are usually 12 rounds. Betting on total rounds is a bet on how many rounds the fight will last. If we have strong knockout fighters in front of us, there may be only a few rounds. If there are lightweight, more technical fighters in the ring then the fight could go the full 12 rounds.
Betting on how the fight ends. A boxing match can end in several ways: a knockout victory, a TKO victory (the opponent cannot continue the fight), disqualification of the opponent, the opponent's refusal to continue the fight, on points or technical decision of the judges. In this betting category, it is also better to study the rules of the bookmaker - how it will evaluate a particular end of the fight.
Other bets on boxing appear in big fights for titles. Here you can bet on the outcome of each particular round or on which round the fight will be completed. Also, some bookmakers are ready to offer extended betting options, such as which of the boxers will be knocked down and in which round.
How to bet on boxing
The strategy of betting on boxing at first glance may seem simple: there is a favourite, there is an underdog, and in the betting lines everything is obvious. However, do not be quick to overconfidence: bookmakers would not offer bets on this sport if it were so predictable.
Odds on the underdog are often overstated
Bookmakers very often artificially understate the odds on the favourite, respectively, raising the quotes on the underdog. In modern boxing, there are almost no undefeated fighters, and the status of the favourite is more of a name gained during the years of professional career, rather than a real bookmaking score.
Upsets in boxing are not uncommon, otherwise, bookmakers would not offer bets on this sport. The player should properly assess the capabilities of both boxers and in any case, should not fully rely on the understated odds on the favourite.
Boxing fights are a show. And who wants a show in which the favourite always wins? No one. Therefore, be very careful about betting on obvious favourites. Sometimes the boxers themselves, having listened to the extremely positive reviews, incorrectly tune in to the fight and suddenly lose. In this case, we can hope for a rematch, including the lost bet.
Error in assessing a boxer's uniform can be costly
Since boxing is an individual sport, so an error in assessing the current form of the fighter actually deprives the player of the chance to win the bet. If a boxer has some old unhealed injury or was picked up by the wrong sparring partner for training, or the coach has chosen the wrong tactics, the bet will be lost. Unfortunately, in the world of sports betting on boxing, as well as in the ring, mistakes will not forgive you. If as a bet on boxing you have chosen some significant fight (usually for the title of champion), you will find a whole bunch of professional judgments of different levels.
Here it is necessary to be careful: instead of a serious assessment of the fight the media can artificially try only to spark more interest in the fight, and it is necessary to be able to distinguish the opinion of a professional and the advice of a person interested in gaining unnecessary PR for the fight.
Before you make a bet, it is worth studying all available sources of information about the boxer, opponent, status of the fight, the venue of the fight (the native fans can decide a lot) and the current state of both fighters. Modern technology allows the player to be aware of almost all the training of boxers (it is now fashionable to layout part of a boxer’s training on video hosting sites like YouTube).
There are a lot of factors that influence the correctness of the choice of bet. If you do not consider at least one, you can make a mistake when placing your bet.
