When it comes to betting on boxing, you have a lot of different options on what you can bet on. Most new sports bettors are only aware of the fact you can bet on the fight winner, but in actuality, there are a lot more options available to you. This not only makes betting on boxing bouts more fun, but it adds a ton of extra ways for you to make money.
Below, you’ll find a list of all of the different types of boxing bets available. We’ll discuss what the bet is, how you win that particular bet, how the bets pay out, and any applicable tips that we feel are important for you to know. We’ll also close the list with an extremely important note about the proper use of these bets that we highly encourage you to read.
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Easily the most popular boxing bet that most of you are probably aware of is the to-win bet. Sometimes this is referred to as the moneyline bet. This wager is nothing more than a pick on who you think is going to win the fight. If the boxer that you select wins the fight, you win your to-win bet. If they lose the fight, you lose your bet.
It doesn’t matter at all how the fight ends, when it ends, or anything like that. It doesn’t matter if it’s a masterful victory or just a silly fluke win. It doesn’t matter if it’s a win by knockout, a good judge’s decision, or a terrible judge’s decision. All that matters is the fighter you picked is the winner.
While this bet is extremely simple to understand and to win, there is one area that does confuse people sometimes and is something you need to pay attention to. Not every to-win bet is going to pay out the same amount of money. Based on the likelihood of each fighter winning the bout, the payouts will be adjusted. The more likely the fighter is to walk away with the W, the less you will be paid on a correct pick. The less likely the fighter is to walk away with the W (the underdog), the more you will be paid on a correct pick.
The reason for this is that the sportsbook wants to have balanced action. They’d like the right amount of money on each side of the fight so that they can just pay the winners with the loser’s money and take a little off the top for themselves.
If you’d like to learn more about how moneyline bets work, we’d highly recommend you check out our Moneyline Bets page where we break everything down in great detail. We’ll look at exactly how these bets pay out, how much you should expect from each side of the bet, and how to take advantage of opportunities to make more money when you do win. This is a must-read for anyone looking to make boxing to-win bets.
One of the most popular things you can bet on in a boxing fight that you may not have known about is when the fight is going to end. Knowing who is going to win is great, but did you know you can get paid if you can figure out when the fight is going to in? What’s great about these bets is that you don’t even have to pick who is going to win the fight. Either fighter can win as long as the fight ends when you pick that it is going to.
Below, you’ll find the four different variations of fight timing bets.
A popular fight timing bet is whether or not the fight is going to go the distance. With this type of bet, you will be wagering on whether the fight will end before the scheduled rounds are all completed, or it will go to the judge’s scorecard. Often, you will find this listed in the prop bets section of a sportsbook.
Again, it does not matter who wins the fight. All that matters is that you correctly pick whether the bout will go the distance or not. As you might expect, each side of this bet is not going to pay out the same amount of money. Based on the likelihood of the fight going the distance, you will see varying payouts for each side of the bet.
If you have two heavy hitters who have a history of ending fights, you’ll probably see better than even money on the fight going the distance and less than even money on it staying out of the judge’s hands. If you’ve got two smaller fighters who are fast but maybe lack power or have great chins, you might see underdog money the fight ending early and less than even money on the fight going the distance.
Another fight timing bet that you will see is the over/under a specific round bet. The sportsbook will pick a particular round or point in a particular round and allow you to choose if the bout will end before or after that point. You’ll see this a lot in bouts where it’s pretty certain that the fight is not going to go the distance. Again, you’ll see varying payouts based on the likelihood of each side of the bet winning.
For example, you might see an over/under rounds bet of something like 8.5 rounds. You will then be able to bet on whether you think the fight will end before the halfway mark of the 8th round or if it will go past it. If you pick that it will go past that, it only needs to go one second after that for you to win. It does not matter who wins or anything like that. As long as the fight goes past that point, you’re a winner.
There are a few unique things that you may see regarding this type of bet in boxing. First, you might see several different lines to choose from. You might see lines for over/under 8.5 rounds, but then they might also have lines for over/under 9.5 rounds or even more options. The payouts will be greatly different on all of these, but that’s understandable. This is a great way for you to earn a few extra bucks if you are a bit more specific on when you think the fight is going to end.
You also might see over/under bets that mirror a go the distance bet. For example, let’s say that there is a 10 round boxing match coming up. If you bet the go the distance bet and bet “Yes” it will go the distance, you’ll win as long as the fight makes it to the end of the 10th round and goes to the judges.
But, you may also see an over/under line on that fight of 9.5 rounds. This is basically a go the distance bet, but it’s slightly different. Usually, if a fight makes it past the 9.5 round mark, it is going to go the distance. But, when you make this bet as opposed to making the go the distance bet, you get an extra half round on the “Yes” bet and you lose half a round on the “No” bet. Usually, this is going to be reflected in the payout, but not always. Make sure if you’re looking to make one of these bets that you do take the time to look at all of your options. If you can get the same payout but get an extra half round to win with, that’s pretty awesome too.
The next fight time bet on the list that is slightly more specific is the group rounds bet. You won’t always have the ability to bet this bet, but we do see it frequently on bigger fights and higher profile fight cards. The group round bet allows you to choose a group of rounds that you think the fight is going to end in.
For example, let’s say you are looking to bet on when an upcoming 12-round bout is going to end. If you were to make this wager, you might have the option to bet that the fight will end in rounds 1-4, 5-8, or 9-12. Each of these options will have a different payout based on the likelihood that it will happen and how the betting money has come in so far.
Again, as is the case with every other bet in this section, it does not matter who wins the fight or how they win it. As long as the fight ends in one of the rounds that you selected, you are a winner. As this is a bit more specific than just picking an over/under or whether it will go the distance, you can expect to get paid a slightly higher premium by making this bet. The more specific you are, the more money you should expect to get paid.
The last phrase of the last section was that the more specific you are, the more money you should expect to get paid. This becomes even more true with our last type of fight end time bet, the specific round bet. With this bet, you are going to be picking one round that you think the fight is going to end in. If you are correct and the fight ends in that round, you are a winner. If it ends in any other round or goes the distance, you’re bet is a loss.
Now, this is obviously going to be pretty challenging to pull off. But, rightfully so, you’re going to get paid a ton of money if you get this right. So, if you have a very precise prediction about when you think a boxing fight is going to end, this is the type of bet you’re going to want to look for. Keep in mind, as well, that you can usually bet multiple rounds on the same fight and still turn a nice profit as long as you are correct on one of them.
The next type of boxing bet that we’d like to introduce you to is the double chance bet. This is a bet that takes the to-win bet and mixes it with a traditional method of victory bet. Now, just to make sure we’re on the same page, a method of victory bet is a wager where you select whether the fight will end by TKO/KO or decision. You usually won’t see this by itself in boxing as it’s technically a go the distance bet.
With a double chance bet, you will select the winner of the fight AND the method of victory. So, you’ll usually have four choices to choose from.
In order to win the boxing double chance bet, you have to get both parts of the bet correct. You have to pick the fight winner as well as the way they are going to win. In effect, these are like mini prebuilt parlays. As they are more precise than either bet by itself, you are usually going to get paid out a nicer premium for a correct pick.
This is a popular prop bet that we wanted to separate into its own section because it’s pretty popular in the world of boxing. With this bet, you will be wagering on whether or not one fighter is going to knock down the other fighter at any point in the course of the bout. The premise of the bet is simple. If the fighter you pick to knock down the other fighter knocks them down, you win your bet. You can also bet that there will not be a knockdown as well if you think that side of the bet is the better choice.
As expected, each side of the bet will have a different payout based on the likelihood of it occurring. Sometimes you will see this bet without a specific fighter picked where any knockdown will count and sometimes you will see it more like a double chance bet where you will have to pick the fighter doing the knocking down. Just be aware of what you’re betting before you make your wager.
We’ve touched on several prop bets already in this guide, but now we want to address them as a whole. Prop bets are wagers where you bet on whether something is going to occur in a fight or not. Basically, these are bets where you’ll be able to choose yes or no in regards to it happening. For example, will the fight go the distance? Will there be a knockdown? Those are the two examples we’ve already touched on.
But, there are other things that you can bet on. Will a certain fighter land more significant shots than their opponent? Will there be a point deduction? Will the fight be a draw? There are tons of different prop bets that you may or may not see on an upcoming boxing fight. Usually, the higher profile the fight is, the more prop bet options that you’re going to see. It’s really just up to the sportsbook what they choose to offer action on. Big ticket PPV fights will usually have a ton of prop bet options for you to choose from.
The variety of prop bets is also going to change from sportsbook to sportsbook. So, if you’re someone who loves betting props, you’ll probably want to check a few different books for each fight to see what they have to offer. The lines are also going to vary the most on prop bets from book to book, so this is a great spot to do some serious line shopping and pick up some extra value.
The last type of boxing wager that we’d like to cover today are in-round bets. These are wagers that you can make after the opening bell has rung. This won’t be available in brick and mortar casinos, but it will be available at a lot of online sportsbooks. The way it works is that at the end of each round new lines will be put out for you to bet on. These lines are going to be reflective of what has already transpired in the fight.
For example, if one fighter is initially the favorite but is getting pounded, you might see underdog odds on them to win the fight. Or, if the favorite is doing what they’re supposed to do, you might see better odds on the other fighter pulling off a surprise come from behind victory.
What you’re able to bet on between rounds is going to depend on how expansive the in-round betting offerings are at the site you’re betting with. Usually, though, you’re going to be able to bet on who the winner of the fight is going to be and if the fight is going to end in the next round or not. This is not always the case, but if they’re offering live action, you’ll probably be able to at a minimum bet these two things.
This format of betting is great if you’re someone who can really pick up on the tone of a fight. The lines also are put out very quickly, so the chances that the book makes a mistake are a lot higher than with the initial lines. The other bettors are also going to be reacting quickly to these bets, so the chances of finding value in lines that move the wrong way thanks to people betting with their hearts instead of their heads is also huge.
It’s important to point out that just because all of these betting options exist in the sport of boxing does not mean that you have to utilize all of them. In fact, you can be a successful and profitable better by only using one type of bet and completely ignoring the rest. There seems to be some confusion that you are required to diversify your betting strategy in order to be profitable. This is not true.
Only use the bet types that you’re comfortable with and match up with the predictions you’ve made about an upcoming fight. If you don’t completely understand a bet type, don’t make it. If you don’t think there is value in the bet you’re thinking about making, don’t make it. We only show you all of these options so that you’re aware of their existence. There is no requirement for you to use them unless they fit within the confines of your betting strategy.
Hopefully, you now have a better picture of all the different betting options you have when it comes to betting on boxing. Remember, you don’t have to use all of these bets, and you can certainly be wildly profitable by just betting one type of bet. If you’re looking for some more help and strategy advice, check out our Boxing Betting Strategy Hub where we have a ton of information and resources available to you.
