Boxing bettors who know what they’re doing are always looking for new strategies to get the most out of their bets. Knowing as much as possible about the sport of boxing is an important part of any successful boxing betting strategy.
Boxing is a tricky sport with 17 different weight classes, making it tough to understand a boxing card. Anyone may improve their personal boxing betting strategy by knowing which divisions are the best for bettors, or at least recognizing which categories are the worst.
Why Do Professional Boxers Compete in Weight Classes?
Professional boxers compete in weight classes to keep fights competitive and to protect fighters from being pitted against opponents who are simply too massive or heavy for them to fight.
As of 2018, boxing included 17 weight classes, ranging from the diminutive athletes in the 105-pound strawweight category to the larger-than-life heavyweight boxers who only do ceremonial prefight weigh-ins due to the division’s lack of a weight limit.
Understanding the Functions of Weight Classes
A professional boxer must make weight under the divisional limit on the day before the scheduled fight in order to compete in any weight class (excluding heavyweight). The athletic commission, with the advice of any applicable sanctioning organizations, conducts an official prefight weigh-in.
During talks between camps, professional boxers agree on weight limits for matches, and fighters from each camp are contractually bound to make the stipulated weight. If a boxer fails to make weight, he or she runs the risk of losing the bout, as well as any associated payouts and championships.
Fighters can agree to meet at a catchweight, which implies they will fight at a weight limit that is not set by the 17 existing weight classes.
For example, if a welterweight agrees to face a junior middleweight but agrees to meet halfway at a catchweight between the 147-pound restriction for welterweights and the 154-pound limit for junior middleweights, the two may agree too about 150 pounds.
Because the fight is under the 154-pound limit, it is nevertheless classified as a junior middleweight bout. However, depending on the terms of the contract, any boxer who does not make the agreed-upon catchweight limit may still be in danger of losing the fight due to weight loss.
For bettors, the best and worst weight classes are
If you’re going to wager on a sport, it’s a good idea to bet what you know. But, aside from being an expert at watching a specific boxing division (and knowing all of the numerous fighters competing in that weight class inside and out), it makes sense to stick to the fights and competitors in the most popular and well-paid divisions.
The highest five divisions of boxing’s initial eight weight classes are the sport’s most historically significant weight classifications. Heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, and lightweight are the divisions. Boxing, as we know it now, began with these five divisions and three additional lighter-weight divisions before gradually expanding to include the 17 classes that exist today.
These five weight classes, however, continue to receive the most media attention and attract the best fighters to compete in them. The competitors in these weight classes are easier to study and much more is known about them overall than the fighters in most other divisions, which is why you should bet on main card fights instead of undercard fights. Because effective betting – whether it’s an outright win, a fight that goes the distance, or a boxing prop bet – is all about gathering and sorting as much relevant data as possible, punters searching for an edge should concentrate on these five weight classes.
The five smallest weight classes are the poorest weight classes to bet on. Unless one is related in some manner to Asia, any division starting at bantamweight and down is tough to follow. Although the lower weight classes have rankings on the global boxing rankings board, such boxers and weight classes are far more popular in the East than in the United States and the United Kingdom. For the typical boxing bettor, accessing news and content on those fighters is incredibly difficult due to language and cultural obstacles. There are many popular betting apps and betting sites that allow betting on Boxing.
All of the weight classes in professional boxing are listed below.
