Boxing Money Line
Boxing Odds, Moneylines, Totals And Props
Let's talk about how to read and understand boxing odds like the ones above but beyond that, we wanted to explain why we have this page. It’s essentially a tool where you can quickly scan the odds at the sportsbooks on the market and see who has the best boxing odds on the boxing match. That’s important as the same fight might have very different prices. Since it costs you nothing to have accounts at different sportsbooks (they’re all free to sign up at), you always want to make sure you’re taking advantage of the best line. That will save you money when betting favorites and allow you to win more when betting underdogs.
Now that that’s cleared up, let’s talk about how to read the boxing odds:
Understanding Boxing Odds
When you’re examining the pro boxing odds at a sportsbook, the first thing you’re going to notice is a couple of fighters with numbers next to their names. The boxing moneyline might look something like this:
Manny Pacquaio +220
Floyd Mayweather –250
The key to understanding these boxing betting odds is to notice the plus and minus signs from above. What that tells you is how much you’ll win if you bet on each fighter.
With the minus sign, as we see with Mayweather, that tells us the amount we’d need to bet to win $100. In this case, a $250 bet would pay $100 if Mayweather won.
With the plus sign, as we see with Pacquiao, that tells us the amount we’d win if we bet $100. In this case, a $100 bet on Pacquiao would pay $220.
Of course, you’re free to bet whatever amount you want on the boxing betting lines. This just gives you an idea of what the payout ratios would be. You can bet $50 to win $20 on Mayweather, $5 to win $2, or $1000 on Pacquiao to win $2200. It’s completely up to you as long as you stick to the betting limits of the sportsbook.
Editors' choice: top sportsbook.
Who Is The Favorite, Who Is The Underdog?
When you’re looking at the boxing odds Bovada has on the board or any other sportsbooks, you want to understand who the oddsmakers think will win and who is expected to get beat up. By looking at these betting odds, you’ll be able to gather who is favored – the fighter that’s expected to win – and who is the underdog – the fighter that is not expected to win.
The minus sign denotes the favorite and you probably could have figured that out. Since Mayweather is the favorite, he’s expected to win, so you’re going to win less money betting on him.
On the other hand, the plus sign indicates the underdog in a head-to-head betting line as we see above. Since Pacquiao is not expected to win, his payout will be bigger if he surprises and pulls off the upset.
Taking a quick look at the math, a $250 bet on Mayweather pays $100. However, a $250 bet on Pacquiao would pay $550.
The smaller the numbers go into negatives – such as -1000, -1500, -4000 – the bigger the favorite. On the other hand, the bigger the numbers go into positives – such +120, +300, +1000 – the bigger that fighter is an underdog and the less he’s expected to win.
Boxing Totals
We’ve gone over the moneyline, which is the way to bet on the outright winner of the fight. Now we’ll take a look at boxing totals, which is another way to wager on bouts. In this type of bet, you’re betting on whether the fight will go over or under a set number of rounds. Let’s look at the following example:
Manny Pacquaio at Floyd Mayweather
Total: 9.5 Rounds
With this type of bet, you have to decide whether the fight will last longer than 9.5 rounds or end before then. The key here is how do you think the fight will play out? If you’re expecting an early knockout, under is the way to go. If you’re expecting a long fight that goes the distance, over is the right bet.
Keep in mind that boxing rounds are three minutes long and the halfway mark is 1:30. That means if the over-under is 9.5, that’s nine full rounds and then 1:30 into the 10th round.
Boxing Props
Another way to bet on boxing is to focus on prop bets, which are different side bets which may or may not be related to the fight’s outcome. A few examples of this would be:
- Will the fight end in a draw?
- Will at least one fighter be knocked down during the bout?
- Which round will the fight end?
These give you some opportunities to make some predictions without necessarily picking a winner. However, some of the most popular boxing props are ones where you not only predict the winner but you predict the round and/or the method. For example, you could bet Mayweather to win via a fourth-round knockout. If he’s -250 to win the fight in any fashion, your payout with this very specific prop might be something like +1200. It’s a much bigger payday because you have a smaller window of opportunity.
Other props that are popular are how the fight will end. For example, you could bet on knockout or judges’ scorecards. This way, if either fighter wins by the method you chose, you still cash your bet.
Keep in mind there is usually far more boxing props available to you at any online sportsbook than in Vegas.
Live Boxing Betting
One key to keep in mind is boxing is available for live betting at many sportsbooks. If you’re not sure who is going to win the fight before it starts, this allows you to watch a bit of the bout, see how it’s playing out and then jump in with your wager.
This is only available with online sportsbooks as the boxing odds in Las Vegas only allow you to bet on the fight before it starts.
Boxing FAQ
You can bet on boxing at sportsbooks like Bovada, BetOnline, YouWager and many more. All of these books have odds up on almost every boxing match around the world. Bovada is especially good for live betting on boxing.
If you see a fighter with a minus sign next to their odds like -300, that means you’ll have to bet $300 to win $100. On the other hand, if it’s a plus sign, like +250, that indicates that you’ll win $250 if you bet $100.
This indicates that if you bet $100 on these odds, you’d win back $500 in profit if your bet won. Of course, you’re not tied to betting in $100 increments. You can bet $10 win $50, $200 to win $1000, etc. This just tells you the payout.
To bet on a boxing match, you can open up an account at Bovada, BetOnline, MyBookie or many other sportsbooks. It takes just a couple of minutes. Then you deposit some funds and after that, you can bet on boxing. It’s a fast process.
If you bet on a fighter to win a boxing match and the fight ended in a draw, you get your money right back. In that situation, it’s called a push, which is a tie or draw, and whatever amount you bet is returned to your sportsbook account.
MyBookie is a legal sportsbook as they are licensed and operating out of Costa Rica. They frequently come up among boxing bettors because they have a good reputation for boxing betting lines (and fight odds in general).
MyBookie is completely legit as they have a license from the Costa Rican government to operate. They are popular in the boxing betting community as they offer an excellent variety of boxing odds.
MyBookie Sportbook carries their lines from time to time.
A technical knockout is simply another form of knockout. This happens when the referee jumps and stops the fight based on one of the fighters looking really bad and like they’re unable to continue.