Tips for Betting on Boxing

Boxing is a thrilling sport which is up close and personal.  It is a celebration of individual skill and achievement.  It can be a chance for you to achieve as well, if you learn how to wager on it.  Want to maximise your odds of winning?  Here are a few tips to help you stay on track:

• Be sure to actually watch the matches.  This is great advice for any sport, but it is particularly essential for one-on-one sports like boxing.  Reading a recap cannot really give you a feel for the fighting styles and personalities of the combatants.  That is something you need to see yourself.

• Don’t just focus on the individual styles of boxers.  Also focus on how their styles match up against other styles.  Remember, boxing is about more than just being “good” or “bad.”  A boxer may perform great against several tough fighters in a row, and then fail utterly when he meets someone with a vastly different style.

• Sometimes boxers move up or down through weight divisions.  This can happen for a variety of reasons, but it often has specific consequences, like changes in training schedules.  These changes can be fatiguing and take a toll.  When players move up in the weight divisions, this may also represent a good opportunity to bet on points as a Method of Victory.  To learn more about Method of Victory wagers, read my article on types of boxing bets.

• Boxers, like all athletes, eventually decline in their performance as they get older.  If you become cognisant of decline before other bettors, you may have a great chance at winning some decent payouts.

• Ignore the hype.  Boxing is a sport which is particularly prone to it.  There are a lot of reasons that a champion may get hyped up and which are not necessarily a direct reflection of skill or performance.  Personalities in this industry can really have an impact.  So can dubious decisions.  There are also situations where a player may be hyped for a particular quality, while the rest of their qualities are simply ignored.  Consider an undefeated champion for example who still really has not fought anyone significant.  He may be hyped up because he is undefeated, but that is no real indication of his performance.  The moment he comes up against someone really tough, he may go right down.  If you pay attention to hype at all, just take note of the way it can affect odds.

Betting on boxing is fun because it allows you to follow the careers of individual fighters.  You can really get to know their personalities and their fighting styles.  This can be very exciting, and it is easy to get emotional about it.  So one last bit of advice is to remember to stay objective if you want to win.  Resist the temptation to get sentimental.  Your favourite boxer isn’t always going to achieve a knockout victory.  Cheer him on, but put your money on the smart wager.