Enjoy Boxing Betting & Odds on Bet777

There are few sports that can generate a level of excitement, glamour and interest as a boxing match. When you break it down, it’s a simple proposition: two men enter a ring, both believing that they are the superior fighter. Over a set period of time, they fight, and if one does not win outright, the result is decided by a trio of judges. That’s it. From this has come a multi-billion-dollar industry, a huge betting market and some of the most remarkable moments and individuals in sporting history.

Because it is such a basic structure, making boxing bets is not a complicated process. It is the ultimate in what-you-see-is-what-you-get gambling. There are no accumulators, no complex rules or conditions. Having considered the boxing odds, you pick the fighter you think will win, and if you are feeling really confident, the round that they will win in or the total number of rounds they will complete. That’s basically it. It is pure in a way that other sports can only dream of. But here’s the twist – because it is all so simple and easy, pretty much anyone can do it. And amazingly, they do. A great many boxing matches feature non-boxers. ‘Freak fights’ can be some of the most incredible spectacles and generate tempting boxing odds, even if they’re not the best fights from a technical standpoint.

One of the most amazing boxing bets ever made was by Curtis Woodhouse. A professional footballer, Woodhouse once bet £5k on himself to become a British boxing champion. Three years later, he was the Light Welterweight Champion and received an alleged £250k payout. Now that’s confidence! There have also been some stunning upsets to beat the boxing odds. James ‘Cinderella Man’ Braddock was 10-1 ‘dog to beat Max Baer in 1935, as was Cassius Clay when he beat Sonny Liston in 1964. Only one bookie in Vegas would take bets on the bout between Buster Douglas and Mike Tyson in 1990, and they offered Douglas boxing odds of 42-1. Douglas won by KO in the 10th.

Boxing History

For as long as there have been fists it seems, there has been boxing and presumably, boxing bets. Depictions of men fighting each other for sport go back about five thousand years. Sculptures from Egyptian-ruled Thebes in 1350BCE show spectators watching the fight, and at around the same time, a painting from Crete depicts men fighting in gloves. The Romans, of course, were huge fans of combat sports, even if some of the competitors, usually slaves or gladiators, did not really have much of a choice in the matter. Evidently, the Romans (eventually) agreed because boxing was abolished in 393AD due to excessive brutality. But they certainly put down boxing bets. It is recorded that Emperor Augustus lost 30k sesterces at the Colosseum in Rome, though the nature of the event is not known.

After this, a curious thing happened. For the next twelve hundred years, boxing all but disappeared from recorded history. People had swords, axes and knives, which they wore about their person. They did not really fight with their fists for fun and/or profit, and nor did they seem to have a great deal of interest watching others do so. It was not until the late 17th century that the earliest forms of boxing began to reappear. The very first recorded boxing match was organised by Christopher Monck, the Duke of Albemarle in 1681.

Freak Fights

It is a story as old as time: everyone wants a piece of the champ. In boxing particularly, if you can prove yourself consistently, then you will get attention from all sorts of places that you might not expect. This can lead to some truly extraordinary match-ups. Take Muhammad Ali, for example, no stranger to a bit of spectacle. After the extraordinary ‘Rumble In The Jungle’ and the gruelling ‘Thriller In Manila’, Ali travelled to Japan for an exhibition match against professional wrestler, Antonio Inoki in 1976. Special rules were created for the bout, in which Inoki would not be permitted to throw or grapple with Ali. Broadcast around the world to 34 countries and a billion viewers, it would be an understatement to say that things did not go well. Inoki spent most of his time on his back, kicking Ali in the legs, while a frustrated Ali attempted to taunt his opponent into standing up. Ali threw a total of six punches throughout the fight, the first being thrown in the seventh round. It was so obviously a fix, the crowd pelted the ring with rubbish.

Mickey Rourke had a short-lived professional boxing career in the 1990s, but most other celebs would rather try it once rather than go full-on. Rocky IV star Dolph Lundgren took part in a professional bout in 2007 against Oleg Taktarov (Taktarov won in five rounds). Vanilla Ice, Shaquille O’Neal, rapper Coolio and even Ricky Gervais have competed in televised boxing matches (and of everyone on that list, only Gervais won!).

The biggest boxing match in the world also featured a non-boxer. Floyd Mayweather, one of the most dominant boxers in history, fought Conor McGregor in Las Vegas in 2017. Both fighters made a vast amount of money from the fight, which ended with a TKO for Mayweather in the 10th round. The boxing odds had Mayweather as a strong favourite. It is believed to be the most bet-upon fight in history, with an estimated $85m being wagered in boxing bets. Six individuals bet $1m each on Mayweather, but despite this, more people wagered on McGregor the underdog.

Mad Moments

One of boxing’s most enduring features is that strange things can and will happen. In 1993, a paraglider landed in the ring during a title fight between Evander Holyfield and Riddick Bowe. Holyfield was also the victim of Mike Tyson’s infamous biting incident, in which he gnawed off part of his opponent’s ear. People have been hit so hard, they have fallen out of the ring. Cheats have brought down the ire of trainers and coaches, who have entered the ring to take matters into their own hands. Referees have been knocked out, fighters have burst into tears. All this potential for chaos only adds to the excitement and intrigue.