Online Boxing Betting
How to bet on Boxing Online
Boxing has had a very interesting relationship with betting over the years. The sport reached a peak in the 1970's, when fighters like Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Ken Norton and Larry Holmes were in their prime. Unfortunately, boxing took some hits in the 1980's and 90's since there were numerous allegations of fixed fights and corruption.
But this certainly doesn't mean that boxing betting is dead these days. In fact, there are still plenty of huge fights that draw numerous bettors from around the globe. And many of these people like to place their wagers at online sportsbooks. Assuming you're looking to join this crowd, here's a look at the basics of online boxing betting.
Finding an Online Sportsbook
Many internet sportsbooks offer boxing lines at various points throughout the years. Most of the time, these lines are only for the biggest fights, but that still gives you an opportunity to wager on the sport. Assuming you find a sportsbook that features boxing lines on a fairly consistent basis, the next step is to create an account and deposit.
Creating an account is a pretty easy matter because you just need to fill in some personal details like your name, address, phone number and email. Upon verifying the email address, you'll be all set to make a deposit. To do this, you need to check out the sportsbook's available banking methods, make sure you can use one of these options, and complete the transaction. As long as you don't run into any hitches, it should only take around 10-15 minutes to set yourself up for making bets online.
Boxing Moneyline
Boxing is one of the easier sports to wager on because it deals with the simple moneyline. Those betting on the moneyline are merely trying to predict which fighter will win. However, odds are attached to each fighter to balance out action on both sides of the line. Below you can see how a boxing moneyline works:
Floyd Mayweather Jr. -250
Oscar De La Hoya +210
Draw +1900
In this example, bettors would have to risk $250 to win $100 in profit on the favorite, Floyd Mayweather. De La Hoya is the underdog here because bettors would risk $100 to earn $210 in profit. Those who wager on the fight being a draw would be betting $100 to win $1,900.
Keep in mind that there are no pushes in boxing betting. If the fight ends in a draw and you wagered on Mayweather or De La Hoya, you'd lose. For this reason, sportsbooks offer the draw option in their boxing lines.
Boxing Prop Bets
In order to increase the betting variety for major fights, many sportsbooks offer proposition wagers. One of the more common boxing prop bets involves how long the fight will last. Anybody who's familiar with over/under betting in other sports shouldn't have much trouble with fight duration bets. You can see an example here:
Over 7 full rounds -120
Under 7 full rounds +130
Assuming you bet that the bout will last for seven full rounds and both fighters are out for the start of the eight round, you'd win $100 for every $120 wagered. However, if the fight is stopped any time before the start of Round 8 - including the break in between rounds 7 and 8 - your wager would be a loss.
Likewise, if you were to bet that the fight would stop before seven full rounds, you'd earn $130 for every $100 wagered as long as the bout somehow ended before the start of Round 8.
You should also keep in mind that online sportsbooks usually feature prop bets on if a bout will end due to stoppage or knockout. Before we further discuss this wager, here's a look at an example:
Floyd Mayweather by TKO or stoppage -140
Oscar De La Hoya by TKO or stoppage +180
Here a person would earn $100 for every $140 bet on Mayweather if he wins the fight due to either a technical knockout or stoppage. If he wins via decision or loses, the wager would also lose. Those betting on De La Hoya would be in the same position in that they'd need him to win by TKO or a referee stoppage before the bout goes to a decision.
As you can see, boxing betting isn't a complicated subject. Once you've deposited money at online sportsbook, you'll be free to place wagers whenever lines are offered.