One of the oldest competitive sports still going strong today, boxing is an extremely popular betting market in the UK and around the world. From Tyson v Holyfield to Mayweather v McGregor, it’s always had an extremely strong connection to betting and Las Vegas.
Whether you want to join in the fun of boxing betting or you’re already a seasoned pro but are looking for some extra betting tips and advice, well, look no further, we’ve got you covered with our best boxing betting sites page.
Take a look at the sections below as we let you know the best bookmaker promotions available, the best free bets around and what bookmakers have the best boxing offering regarding pre-fight and live in-play markets.
Top 5 Best Boxing Betting Sites
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
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Most UK licenced bookies to offer boxing as a sport on their site to bet on, but some do it better than others in terms of an array of live in-play markets and the variety of markets on offer in general. Five top bookmakers that do it well include Betfair, William Hill, Unibet, Betway, and LeoVegas as you’ll see in our list, above.
You’ll notice that bookmakers won’t list every single upcoming professional fight. Instead, they’ll offer a selection of high-profile title bouts and fights that demand the most attention throughout the year. The five bookmakers listed do not fall into this bracket as they offer a hell of a lot of boxing matches for a punter to bet on.
Boxing Betting Offers
There are plenty of offers and boxing free bets to be had with numerous bookmakers, especially when a title fight or one of Eddie Hearn or Frank Warren’s big PPV cards are on the horizon.
Showtime shows a lot of good events over in the US too, so if they’ve got a big night planned, you can be sure there will be some fantastic promotions available for new and existing customers.
As well as enhanced boxing odds for existing customers when a big fight is coming up, new customer welcome offers will appear where a favourite will be a ridiculous price to beat a journeyman to entice you to sign up.
Our advice? Take advantage of these! For example, Anthony Joshua may be 20/1 to win instead of 1/20 as bookies look to get new customers onboard.
Bear in mind that with any new customer welcome offer, winnings tend to be paid in free bets so make sure you remember that any free bet stake is not returned with any winnings and some free bets expire after 48 hours of receiving them, so don’t miss out!
One existing promotion that is not specific to boxing but can be used to your benefit on boxing matches is the accumulator bonus where you can enjoy up to 100% bonus on your acca.
Make sure you check out the terms and conditions of the offer as you would need to add a certain amount of selections to get a certain bonus percentage, and selections more often than not have minimum odds for the offer, so you wouldn’t qualify.
For example, if you backed a massive odds-on favourite in your accumulator – as the odds would need to be above 1/4.
Boxing Betting at William Hill
Everyone has their favourite when it comes to which bookmaker to use to bet on boxing, but William Hill has sponsored a few of Anthony Joshua’s fights and is very well respected in the industry as a top site for betting on boxing.
Not only do they cover the bigger fights in the UK and across the pond, William Hill also have non-title bouts on their site from Heavyweight right down to Flyweight and even celebrity matchups!
As well as your standard William Hill bout betting and round betting, they also offer a couple of different takes on group round betting well before the fight is scheduled to take place.
It’s worth keeping an eye on the bigger fights as they approach as Will Hill will make more available for punters to bet on closer to fight night, with cash out and live in-play betting available on the popular markets.
So, if you’re looking for a new bookmaker to bet on boxing with, you can do a lot worse than choosing William Hill boxing odds.
How to Bet on Boxing
If you’re looking for the best boxing markets to bet on as well as how to make some decent profit, you’re in the right place. It’s really easy to bet on boxing as it follows the same process as any other sport on a betting website:
- Go to your favourite bookmaker or read our reviews here and pick a new betting site
- Register or login to the site
- Make sure your funds are topped up – go to the deposit page and follow the process
- Go to the sportsbook page
- Find boxing using the search bar if they have it, or on the navigation bars otherwise
- Look for an event that interests you
- Choose the market you’re interested in
- Select the bet you want to place – your bet slip will now be populated
- Press ‘Place Bet’
Now, in terms of how to bet on boxing and win, there are no guarantees with betting otherwise we’d all be retired on a desert island somewhere sipping champagne. Or beer. Your choice.
However, if you want to enjoy some winnings by betting on boxing, pre-play and live in-play markets must both be considered. Some of the most popular boxing markets to bet on include:
- Match Betting
- Head to Head
- Round Betting
- Method of Victory
- Will the Fight Go the Distance?
- Group Betting
Let’s explain these in more detail…
Match Betting
This is a very popular market in the UK. In simple terms, you’re essentially betting on a three-selection market as to who will win the fight, with the draw the third option alongside both fighters.
The odds are very similar to those in the head to head market as the draw option is usually priced big from around 18/1 right up to 50/1 or so, thus the probability of the draw happening is very minimal, but it can happen. The draw is certainly a bet to consider when two fighters who are evenly matched enter the ring.
Head to Head
This boxing market works in the same way as match betting, however, the draw does not exist here as it’s just a two-selection market.
Round Betting
This is a boxing betting market loved by punters searching for value. You can pick which round you think a fighter will be victorious. A little bit of research comes in very handy for these sort of bets as it might not be a good idea to back the later rounds if a fighter has won every single one of his fights within the first four rounds for example.
Method of Victory
How will a boxer win the fight? The options you can pick from in this market are for either boxer to win the fight via stoppage (KO, TKO or DQ), decision or whether it ends in a draw. Some bookies also refer to this market as Method of Result.
Will the Fight go the Distance?
An easy one to understand. Simply put, this is a bet on whether the fight will be stopped. Things to bear in mind if you’re considering a bet on this boxing market are if a fighter has a history of being stopped or if a fighter has a hard chin and tends to go the distance.
Group Round Betting
A popular market offered by most bookmakers, grouped round betting is where you have a range of rounds to bet on i.e. 1-3 or 4-6. The odds are not as good as you’d enjoy in the round betting market, but if you know a fighter ends a fight early on but not always in the first or even if a fighter promised to KO his opponent within three in the pre-fight press conference, this can be a good market to bet on.
What about Boxing Request a Bet?
Good news! There are a few bookmakers such as William Hill, Betfair, and Betway to name a few who will price up some boxing request-a-bets for the big fights via email, live chat or Twitter using hashtags such as #YourOdds, #RequestABet or #BetYourWay.
An example from a previous fight, Anthony Joshua vs Joseph Parker, was Joshua to win by KO in round five or earlier and Parker to be knocked down more than once.
How to Bet on Boxing in Las Vegas
If the fight’s not happening in the UK, fear not! Many big fights take place in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, but bookmakers will still price up the fight for you to bet on, although due to strict licensing it’s not possible to offer these fights via live streaming.
If you want to bet on boxing live in-play from Vegas then it’ll be a case of staying up into the early hours, normally around 4am or 5am, and catching the action live on Box Office or radio.
Where to Bet on Fights – Mobile Betting
Right at the very start of this boxing betting page, we listed some of the best boxing sites to bet on in the UK, but you can choose to place these bets via your desktop or a mobile site or mobile betting app.
We’re not here to tell you what method is better as they all have their good and bad points, but it’s worth noting that some bookmaker promotions are only available via mobile, so please do check to make sure you understand a bookmaker offer fully before getting too excited.
If you’re one who uses a desktop but like the look of a mobile offer, give it a go! You can choose whether to download a bookmaker’s mobile betting app or simply use their mobile site, but an app will usually be the more user-friendly of the two options.
If you’ve got a Windows phone then you may need to stick to the mobile site as not many bookies offer an app for these devices, but if you are on Android or iPhone then you should be able to locate the bookmaker’s mobile betting app easily enough via the Google Play and Apple Store respectively.
In-Play Boxing Betting
Live betting on boxing is proving to be a popular way to find some value. There are a range of boxing markets available with numerous bookies that will go in play at the sounds of the first bell.
Whether your preference is desktop betting or mobile betting, do some research before the fight, maybe by using an odds comparison website, as to which bookies offer better pre-fight prices as they’ll tend to offer more value in their in-play markets too.
If a fighter comes out all guns blazing looking for the knockout, you can jump on in-play markets to grab some value such as round betting or method of victory as you anticipate an early finish.
If you’re watching the fight live on tv or listening to it on the radio, this can also be to your advantage during the fight as you look to place a value bet, but please note that there will always be a slight delay of a couple of seconds between what you’re watching or listening to compared with the live betting odds.
Do Boxing Betting Sites have Cash-Out?
Yep! Well, most do, some don’t so double check before placing your bet if you love the cash-out feature.
Cash-out in boxing only tends to be available at the moment on the bigger markets such as match betting, round betting, and method of victory, so if you’re searching for a bookmaker who offers cash out on a ‘Will the Fight go the Distance’ market you’re going to be disappointed.
However, cash out is growing all the time, so be sure to keep tabs on the cash-out feature in boxing as more markets will be made available in the future, we can almost guarantee that.
Best Boxers of All Time
Boxing as a sport goes way back to Ancient Greece time, but modern boxing that has moved away from illegal venues has been on the rise since the early 1900’s and is one of the largest multi-billion-dollar sports today, just ask Floyd Mayweather.
But who are the best boxers in the world and the so-called pound for pound elite?
Well, we must break it down first as there are different weight classes to consider as well as different boxing associations.
What are the Different Weight Classes in Boxing?
Traditionally, there are eight divisions which are essentially from the early 20th century before the likes of Cruiserweight, Super and Junior divisions were added:
|
Division |
Weight |
|
Flyweight |
112 (8st / 50.802kg) |
|
Bantamweight |
118 (8st 6lbs / 53.525kg) |
|
Featherweight |
126 (9st / 57.153kg) |
|
Lightweight |
135 (9st 9lbs / 61.235kg) |
|
Welterweight |
147 (10st 7lbs / 66.678kg) |
|
Middleweight |
160 (11st 6lbs / 72.574kg) |
|
Light Heavyweight |
175 (12st 7lbs / 79.378kg) |
|
Heavyweight |
No Limit |
What About the Different Boxing Associations?
Each boxing association has its own title, which is why you see Anthony Joshua or, back in the day, Lennox Lewis holding up more than one belt. Here’s a list of the different championships:
- World Boxing Association (WBA)
- World Boxing Council (WBC)
- International Boxing Federation (IBF)
- World Boxing Organisation (WBO)
- The Ring
- Lineal
With the abbreviations, you’ve probably heard of a few of them, but the rankings for each one are different, so a number one contender on the WBC list is not necessarily going to be a number one contender on the WBO list. Confusing isn’t it? That’s boxing politics for you.
Who are the World Boxing Champions?
Well, champions and belts change constantly as fights get made, someone loses, an underdog wins, or a fighter gets stripped of a belt because he or she hasn’t fought for a long period of time or has broken the rules.
There’s also the pound for pound rankings which lists the best fighters in boxing regardless of their weight class. Floyd Mayweather was at the very top of this list before he retired, but here’s a list, in no particular order, of the very best boxers to ever step foot into the ring over the years, irrespective of weight division:
- Sugar Ray Robinson – Active from 1940 to 1965, Robinson is the reason the pound for pound rankings were created. As an amateur and a pro, he won 126 fights on the bounce!
- Muhammad Ali – Active from 1960 to 1981, Ali has been hailed as the greatest heavyweight of all time. His trilogy with Joe Frazier and fight with George Foreman will be remembered forever.
- Sugar Ray Leonard – Active from 1977 to 1997, Leonard won seven titles in five different weight divisions, fighting the best of his era and winning each and every time.
- Rocky Marciano – Active from 1948 to 1955, Marciano ended his career 49-0 and is one of very few fighters to go unbeaten in the sport.
- Bernard Hopkins – Active from 1988 to 2016, Hopkins won five world titles in two weight divisions, defending his middleweight crown and impressive 20 times! He probably carried on fighting for a lot longer than he should have done, finally retiring at the age of 51.
- Floyd Mayweather Jr. – Active from 1996 to 2017 and many boxing fans greatest of all time, Mayweather came out of retirement to fight MMA’s Conor McGregor in what was a complete mismatch in all honesty as he claimed a new record of 50-0. Will he come back? If the money’s right, maybe!
- Roy Jones Jr. – Active from 1989 to 2024, Jones has won eight world titles in four weight classes, from 154lbs right up to heavyweight! An incredible boxing feat.
- Mike Tyson – Active from 1985 to 2005, he was the youngest man to win the undisputed heavyweight title and was known as the baddest man on the planet in his prime. He did bite Evander Holyfield’s ear off though, which wasn’t his greatest moment.
- Lennox Lewis – Active from 1989 to 2003, Lewis is a two-time lineal champion from West Ham who also won gold at the 1986 Commonwealth Game as well as gold at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.
- Joe Calzaghe – Active from 1993 to 2008, the Pride of Wales retired with a record of 46-0 and is the longest-reigning super-middleweight world champion in boxing history. Ricky Hatton described him as the best British boxer ever.
You also have the likes of Anthony Joshua and Gennady Golovkin breaking records in this day and age, but whoever your favourite fighter is, enjoy watching the magnificent sport of boxing and enjoy betting on boxing.
Keep looking for that betting value as it’s always there, it just takes a little bit of boxing knowledge and betting research to find it.
Boxing Betting FAQs
What's the best boxing betting site? 
Boxing is popular across the globe, meaning literally hundreds of betting sites offer wagers on a variety of boxing matches and tournaments. This is great for fans of boxing betting, but also a double-edged sword. With so many options available, how are punters meant to choose where to place their bets? We’ve made this easier for you by putting together a selection of the 5 best boxing betting sites, so all you need to do is pick one off the list!
What is round betting in boxing?
With round betting in boxing, you’re essentially choosing the round when the fight will be over, and who will be the winner. Instead of choosing the winner of the fight, you are predicting when exactly will the fight be over. This creates another interesting dimension to help you flesh out your bet slip, as well as being another opportunity to place a winning bet.
What is win by technical decision in boxing betting?
If the fight cannot continue for any other reason, besides TKO, KO or disqualification, yet enough rounds were fought, the judges can end the fight with a Technical Decision. It’s not as rare as one might think, yet you rarely see it on TV. This is an extremely volatile betting market, though, as it’s generally difficult to predict when a match will end by technical decision.