While boxing may seem like a primitive sport that just pits two fighters against each other, to the people who know the sport, it is so much more than that. Try and enter a boxing ring without any defense and swinging punches wildly: it won’t end well, we can tell you that. Boxing is seen by many as controlled combat, much like fencing you are trying to defend yourself, while at the same time scoring hits on your opponent. Sure, some fights end with a wild punchout from a haymaker, but a majority of fights are scored on technical points and are not settled through a knockout.

The origins of boxing date back for centuries with the earliest known history of it occurring in Ancient Egypt and Sumeria from the 3rd millennium B.C. The drawings that depicted boxers are differentiated from normal combat because of what appears to be early forms of gloves or hand protection worn by the fighters. Boxing remained popular throughout history including during Ancient Rome in the Roman Amphitheaters, to organized matches in England, to the U.S. in more modern times.

Boxing’s governing body is called the WBC or the World Boxing Council and it is headquartered in Mexico City. The WBC updates the rules and upholds Champions when a belt for a certain weight class is on the line in a match. The WBC maintains both male and female divisions and operates in 161 countries around the world. There is also an IBF or International Boxing Federation, WBA or World Boxing Association, and WBO or World Boxing Organization as well. Each group has its own set of championship belts but the WBC is widely considered to be the most prestigious of the four.

Interesting Facts About Boxing:

1) Ancient Greece believed that boxing was created by Apollo, one of the major Gods in Greek mythology and son of Zeus.

2) Actor Liam Neeson was an amateur boxing champion in his native Ireland.

3) Boxing is indeed an Olympic sport and is held at the Summer Olympic Games.

4) The real name for boxing as we know it today, is pugilism.

5) The youngest boxer to ever win a championship belt is Wilfred Benitez of Puerto Rico, at age 17.

Ready to start betting on real live boxing matches at your preferred online sportsbook? Look, no matter how much you wager, you are using your hard-earned money to bet on these matches so why not learn some of the tips of the trade before diving headfirst into betting on boxing.

While we cannot provide actual betting advice in this guide, we have accumulated some of our favorite tips, sourced over the KBG team’s 10+ years experience in betting,  to help you get your online boxing betting off to a fun and hopefully profitable start!

Tip#1: Set your betting limits and play within them – Always the single most important lesson for new sports bettors to learn. It is easy to get excited about how simple and fun it can be to bet on boxing online, which usually leads to bettors over betting from their bankrolls.  Set a limit on how much you can afford to lose in a given week or month and stick to that rule. You should find that you are able to maintain your bankroll a lot easier just by instituting a bit of control.

Use systems that control the amount you bet such as proportional betting and try to avoid placing bets with low odds with higher payouts like parlay bets. If you are able to stick to single-game bets and while using proportional betting, wager a percentage of your bankroll each time.

Tip#2: Learn the Odds Systems: Sometimes the posted odds or fighter that is favored may not match what your read is on the fight. It is these edges that will give you an advantage in the long run. If you do not think that Deontay Wilder should be an underdog, then you should bet on Deontay Wilder to win, using your own system.

Remember that the posted odds are merely a guideline set by the bookmakers to get the most amount of action on both sides of the fight, not necessarily an indication of how good each fighter is compared to each other.

Tip#3: Learn the rules of boxing – For any sport you want to start betting, it definitely pays dividends to learn the rules and the nuances of the game. It never hurts to watch some boxing matches that you want to bet on and realize which parts of it can help you in your betting.

Boxing is obviously a one on one combative sport but learning specific boxers’ styles and how they score points can be crucial in how you choose to bet on matches. The rules can be complex, but the basics are not impossible to pick up after watching a few fights. Things you will want to consider learning are boxers’ style, boxers’ defensive skills, and boxers’ endurance levels.

Tip#4: Find which bet types you understand and stick to them: This seems straightforward but learning which types of bets you succeed at more often can be a good indicator of which facets of boxing fights you understand more. If you are good at betting on fight winners then bet on the fight winners. If you are bad with total rounds, then don’t bet on total rounds!

Watching the actual boxing fights rather than just reading the recaps the morning after can give you a huge advantage in understanding how odds and lines are made by sportsbooks as well.

Most reputable online sportsbooks will accept all of the usual forms of digital payments that we are so used to seeing on any website. Credit cards, direct bank transfers, and PayPal are almost universally accepted now across any e-Commerce platform you use.

There are other newer options that have been gaining popularity such as eWallets and Cryptocurrencies, but they are far from being the standard and are less common than the big three options below:

1. Credit Cards: This is still the most common way that players can deposit right into their online sportsbook accounts. Most of the major companies are accepted including Visa, Mastercard, and Discover. Make note that some credit card companies do not allow the cardholder to make purchases on sports betting or gambling sites, so look into the rules of your credit card before trying to use it with your online sportsbook.
2. Direct Bank Transfer: A direct bank transfer is a debit from your personal bank account and is just as fast as paying by credit card and generally has a higher success rate for transactions than credit cards as well. You may need to enter your bank account details so have that information handy as you sign up for your online sportsbook account.
3. PayPal: Paypal.com is the premier site for transferring money online but you do need to sign up for an account and link it to your bank account before using it at any online sportsbook. It is safe, trustworthy, and easy to use and has become increasingly used at online websites as a method of payment. PayPal is great if you need to use different currencies as well.

Need some assistance or have some questions or concerns well don’t worry because you are not the only one!

Every reputable online sportsbook provides its customers with 24-hour around the clock customer service. Because online sportsbooks and online casinos are open 24 hours a day and seven days per week, there is always some form of customer service available via email, toll-free telephone number, or an instant chat function.

These customer service representatives can assist you with anything from deposit or withdrawal issues to questions about specific boxing-related bets you have placed.

Boxing is a one-on-one combative sport where the two fighters square off inside of a ring, wearing padded gloves for up to twelve rounds. The fighters throw punches and try to score as many points as possible or try to knock their opponents out. There are a referee and judges that keep score, and total points are accumulated to determine a winner if there is no knockout before the end of the fight.

Boxers have many different fighting styles but most of them can be separated into the categories of outside fighter, inside fighter, and brawler. Depending on the boxers’ physical stature, speed, weight, and punching strength, the boxer will fall into one of the many subcategories from the aforementioned classes. The scoring system and strategies can be complex for boxing given that for the most part, it is a one-dimensional type of sport. Learning the habits and nuances of each fighter will go a long way in making betting on boxing a profitable endeavor.

When you are finally set up with your online sportsbook and ready to start placing some bets on some real live boxing matches, it is crucial that you learn the different types of bets that you can make. Like with any sport these days, online sportsbooks have made it possible to bet on nearly anything that can happen within a given game or match. From choosing the round the fight will end in to the winner of the match and how they win literally anything can be wagered on.

Let’s go over a few of the more basic types of bets and then a few more that are a little bit more fun and unique:

THE OUTRIGHT WINNER

You can think of this as the Moneyline for a boxing match. Quite literally, the simplest bet you can make on a fight, you can bet on whether or not a certain fighter will win outright, no matter how they end up winning. There are rarely draws in boxing, so you are selecting which boxer will be declared the winner.

FIGHT OUTCOME

This is a way of betting on how you believe the fight will finish. If you think both fighters are defensive and have good endurance, you may as well bet on the match ending in the decision or a technical decision. If there are two brawlers that mostly throw haymakers, then you probably want to bet on the fight to be ended by a knockout.

ROUND BETTING

If you bet on round betting, then you are selecting which fighter will win and which round they will win in. The odds of these bets are quite high as it is definitely difficult to select both factors accurately. You should notice one fighter, usually the favorite, will have slightly lower odds to win in each round.

TOTAL ROUNDS

Your online sportsbook will provide a round total where you can bet either over or under that number. If the total rounds are set at six, you can bet either under or over six depending on when you think the fight will end.

FIGHT TO GO THE DISTANCE

Simply betting on whether or not the fight will go all twelve rounds or not. Depending on the fighters’ style and history, the odds will be skewed in the favor of betting on yes or no, for the fight to go the distance.

WHICH ODDS DO YOU PREFER?

There are a few different types of betting odds that players can use and it is completely up to personal preference and has no effect on the bets or the outcome of the bets.

1. Decimal odds: These are easy to understand and make complete mathematical sense as they are directly proportionate to the amount you wager. If you bet $100 at 1.50 odds you will win $150.
2. American odds: These are slightly less clear to read but once you learn how the numbers work it makes sense.. You will notice American odds use (-) or (+) symbols before their numbers with the (-) indicating a favorite and the (+) the underdog in the matchup.
3. Fractional odds: Again, similar to decimal odds mathematically but using fractions instead of decimals.

These can all be used depending on the bettor’s preference. Keep in mind that they are not interchangeable as 2.00 in Decimal odds does not equal +200 in American odds and vice versa.

The main Boxing organizations in the world are the World Boxing Organization, the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, and the International Boxing Federation. There is no one governing body in the sport of Boxing so all four of these organizations have their own belts for each weight class. The confusing thing is that fighters can win belts from multiple organizations at once and hold these belts at the same time.

There are many more boxing organizations around the world but most of them are not considered on the same level as the top four. There are professional women’s boxing associations as well and the ultimate goal for many fighters is to represent their country at the Summer Olympic Games.

Pick the Sport you want to bet on, learn the dynamics of the games, and tap into the best betting strategies developed over the years. Can you build that elusive hot streak? There’s only one way to find out. Always remember, Bet Responsibly, Bet Greatly:

Wondering how the different U.S. States approach sports betting? the KGB team has provided in-depth guides on how various State or County laws stack up on sports betting. Check out the guides below, where we’ll investigate each state and help you in your quest to start Sports Betting: