Boxing is one of the world’s oldest sports, with paintings and artworks depicting people fighting with their fists dating back centuries. Boxing even had a place in the ancient Olympic Games.
Through the ages, fist fighting became more uncommon due to most men carrying weapons. However, it was during the 16th century that boxing as we know it swept through the country, particularly in London. It began taking prominence as prize fighting. Prize fighting was ungoverned; there were no rules; and men of all different shapes and sizes would compete against each other, which would often lead to deaths in the ring. However, this all changed in 1743, when Jack Broughton, a champion prize fighter, introduced rules such as not hitting a fallen boxer and giving a fallen fighter 30 seconds to recover. Also, padding around the fists was introduced to slightly reduce the impact of punches.
Broughton’s rules were then taken on a step further in the 19th century by the Marquess of Queensberry, who introduced rules that form the structure of boxing today. Queensberry introduced rounds, made the wearing of gloves mandatory, introduced the 10-second knockdown rule, and also set up clearly defined weight divisions. Queensberry and his rules have seen him depicted as the father figure of modern-day boxing.
What is boxing?
What is boxing, and how many rounds in a boxing match are there? Boxing is a sanctioned fight between two individuals that takes place in a ring. Normally, a bout takes place over 12 three-minute rounds. Boxers wear gloves to throw and parry an opponent’s punches. Punches are allowed to the opponent’s body and head. However, any punches below an opponent’s waist are deemed illegal. The winner of the fight is determined by a knockout – when a fighter is knocked to the floor and can’t respond to a standing count of 10. If no knockout is achieved, a fight can be awarded by ringside judges, who will award victory to the boxer they feel has shown the most aggression or landed the most punches.
Boxing is a sport competed by men and women, and depending on a boxer’s weight, they fight other boxers within their dedicated weight class.
How to bet on boxing
Boxing is a pretty straightforward sport to bet on. Due to the nature of the sport, the most common bet type is to wager on the winner of the bout – that boxer A will defeat boxer B. However, bookmakers do have a variety of different markets that bettors can bet on. Markets such as how the fight will be won exist, with bettors being able to wager on whether the contest will end in a knockout or via a points decision. Bettors can also predict when they think the fight might end, with bettors being able to predict the specific round they think the fight will finish.
Spotting an underdog in boxing (or even a superdog pick if you’re really lucky or knowledgeable!) is key to maximising potential wins when betting on boxing.