2025-06-28

Boxing Betting Guide

Betting on boxing bouts has always been popular amongst fans of combat sports. The brutal rivalries that brew between fighters and closely matched pairings mean fireworks will fly in the ring, as well as plenty of punches.

With so many different weight classes and thousands of fighters competing at a professional level, you’re never short of matches to make predictions for. There are also plenty of different boxing bets, including options like who will win, whether it’ll be a knockout, and how many rounds the fight will last.

In our boxing betting guide, we’ve set out everything there is to know about placing wagers on this exhilarating sport. You’ll learn how to bet on boxing, the different markets available to you, the types of wagers you can place, and how to read the odds.

Boxing Betting Markets

In boxing, bets are placed on individual fights, though there are typically many bouts taking place at a single event. This means there are often dozens of different markets to bet on for any given day.

In boxing, the biggest fights take place at major venues that have a pedigree of hosting blockbuster bouts. Some of these include:

Madison Square Garden - One of the oldest and most prestigious venues for hosting boxing matches in the world, located in the heart of New York.
MGM Grand - The MGM Grand is the premiere spot for hosting boxing matches in Las Vegas with fight nights appearing regularly on the schedule.
Cowboys Stadium - Dallas, Texas is home to the Cowboys Stadium, a 80,000-seater venue that’s hosted big names like Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito.
Mexico City Arena - Mexico has produced dozens of world champion boxers and its capital’s Mexico City Arena is home to many headline fights.
Manchester Arena - The Manchester Arena, which has gone by many names previously but most famously the M.E.N. Arena is a hotspot for boxing events in the north of England.
O2 Arena - In the capital, the bulk of big boxing matches take place in the iconic O2 Arena.
Boardwalk Hall - Atlantic City, New Jersey’s Las Vegas of the east, is another popular location with Boardwalk Hall being the go-to venue.

The headline fights at each of these venues are typically called ‘marquee events’ and these are the biggest betting markets in boxing. They’re the ones that feature the biggest and best names in the business and the fights you’re most likely to stay up to watch on pay-per-view.

In addition to the marquee fights, the other bouts on the fight card will have odds available for them so you can also make predictions about the other boxers competing that night.

Types of boxing bets that can be placed

For almost every boxing match, there is a series of different bet types that you can make. The most obvious of these is predicting which of the fighters will win the match, though you can also make bets on a range of outcomes from each fight.

Here are the most common boxing betting types you can place at BetMGM.

Bout Winner - A bet on which of the fighters will win the boxing match or if there will be a draw.
Draw No Bet Bout Winner - A similar bet on who will win but with no option of a draw available.
Total Rounds - A prediction on how many rounds you believe the fight will go, typically you’ll be shown a number and you wager if it will be over or under that amount.
To go the Distance - This is a bet on whether the fight will make it to the final round.
Method of Victory - A wager on how the fight will be won, as well as by whom. Your usual options are by KO, TKO, or DQ, by decision, or draw.
Round Betting - This is a prediction of not just which player will win, but also in which round and by which method.
Winning Group of Rounds - Similar to round betting, but with two or more rounds combined into a single bet.

For marquee events, you will usually find that all of these betting types are available. However, for other betting markets, there may be fewer options for you to wager on. In these cases, you will find odds for the bout winner and draw no bet bout winner markets as a minimum.

Understanding Boxing Betting Odds

Here in the UK, all betting odds are displayed in the fractional format by default, and boxing betting is no different.

This format takes its name from the way the odds are displayed, which is as two numbers separated by a slash. Some examples of fractional odds used for boxing betting include 5/1, 20/1, and 15/2.

Fractional odds allow you to calculate your potential profit quickly and easily from a bet. For example, with 5/1 odds, a winner wager will payout £5 for every £1 staked (plus your original wager). So, if you bet £5 with these odds, you’d receive a return of £30 (£25 plus your £5 stake).

If you prefer, odds can also be displayed in decimal or moneyline (American) formats. They do not change the underlying probabilities or the size of your potential return, but they do alter the way that these are expressed.

In the decimal format, you’ll see odds displayed as either a whole number like 8, or as a number with digits after the decimal place like 8.25.

The three example odds displayed above expressed as decimals would be 6, 21, and 8.5. To calculate your potential payout from these odds, simply multiply them by your stake. The answer will include both your profit and your original wager. Therefore, a £20 bet with 6 odds would return £120, including £100 profit.

Odds displayed in the moneyline format will be shown as a three or four-digit number preceded by a + or -. The three odds in this format would be +500, +2000, and +750.

There are two different ways to calculate a payout with the moneyline format, one for positive odds and one for negative odds. For those beginning with a plus sign, the number shown depicts the amount you’ll receive for each £100 bet. Therefore, odds of +500 would yield a £600 return comprising your £100 stake plus £500 profit.

For negative moneyline odds, you do the opposite calculation. Odds of -500 (2/10 in the fractional format) would require you to wager £500 to win £100. In this case, the return would still be £600 when you include the returned stake.

To make things even easier, we’ve created a simple odds calculator built into our betslip that will show you your potential payout for any bet you’re thinking of placing.