Ahead of a big fight, a boxer is allowed to place a bet on themselves to win in order and increase their earnings. But can they do the opposite? Can they bet on themselves to lose?
Fighters can bet on themselves but cannot bet against themselves because this constitutes an ethical violation. By betting against yourself, you are giving yourself a clear incentive to lose. As such, you are undermining boxing’s integrity and spirit of competition. You cannot possibly claim that you tried your best when there was a financial reward attached to losing the fight.
So if boxers can only bet on themselves, what types of bets can they make? What are the consequences of making illegal bets?
When you can bet on yourself
Betting on yourself to win is entirely legal. If there is an added incentive to fight to the best of your ability, you will definitely do so. This is prizefighting after all.
As such, there are no ethical concerns involved.
However, there is one crucial detail to keep in mind: You can only make “straight” bets on yourself. In other words, you can only place a wager on yourself to win the fight. Nothing else. Betting on the type (KO, TKO, UD, SD) or time of your victory (which round) is prohibited by sportsbooks. Obviously, the public is free to place such wagers.
When you cannot bet on yourself
As we just stated, you cannot bet on yourself to win in a specific fashion or in a specific round. The reasoning is simple: If you have a financial motive to win in a certain way, then you will likely manipulate the fight to earn that result.
This is problematic for a couple of reasons:
- It challenges the integrity of the sport.
- It undermines the business of sports betting.
For instance, you might wish to place a bet on yourself winning in the eighth round by technical knockout. Even though you could finish your opponent sooner, you might feel tempted to extend the fight until your betting requirements are fulfilled, thus landing you an even bigger windfall. This is often referred to as “carrying” your opponent.
Many believe Floyd Mayweather was guilty of this in his 2017 crossover fight against UFC superstar Conor McGregor. Mayweather clearly possessed superior skills in the ring, but the bout still lasted until the 10th round.
Even if you genuinely believe that a fight will reach a certain distance and you will prevail a certain way, the optics of placing a bet containing those details are not good. It will look like you were trying to control the outcome, which shatters professional sports’ ideal of pure competition.
Moreover, bettors are gambling under the assumption that you will fight in good faith (i.e. to the best of your ability). They will not expect you to take your foot off the gas and carry your opponent. This can cost bettors a lot of money and significantly damage the reputation of sportsbooks, thus costing them a lot of money as well.
It’s bad for business all around.
Consequences
There is a great deal of gray area here.
In most cases, sportsbooks will simply shoot down any non-straight bets from fighters. For example, Mayweather attempted to bet on himself to beat McGregor by knockout, but sportsbooks would not allow it.
Some sportsbooks might take advantage of this inside information to tweak the odds a bit, though. This is dangerous territory.
Beyond that, fighters can place specific bets with unregulated sportsbooks, bookies or via proxy. They can simply ask a friend or family member to make the wager for them. It can be incredibly difficult to trace these bets back to the fighters themselves. As such, you rarely see major consequences for fighters placing bets on themselves—even if the wagers extend past winning or losing.
Examples of fighters betting on themselves
Betting on yourself has become quite common among high-profile fighters over the years. If you feel confident in your chances, it is a good way to considerably increase your earnings.
Of course, it also makes losing hurt that much more.
Shane Mosley
Ahead of his fight against Canelo Alvarez in 2012, Shane Mosley placed a $1 million wager on himself to win despite only earning $600K for the fight. It was quite the gamble, and as we know, it didn’t pay off. Mosley lost by unanimous decision.
Keith Thurman
More recently, welterweight contender Keith Thurman bet on a first- or second-round knockout of retired legend Manny Pacquiao before their 2019 bout. He fell on the wrong side of a split decision. Two years earlier, he bet on himself to knock out Danny Garcia in the first round. He failed to do so, ultimately winning by split decision.
Mikey Garcia
In early August, fellow welterweight Mikey Garcia told reporters that he would bet $2 million on himself to win if he ever got the opportunity to fight Pacquiao. He has long sought this contest. Unfortunately for him, Pacquiao announced his retirement from boxing on September 29 following a unanimous decision loss at the hands of Yordenis Ugas eight days earlier.
Some fighters enjoy better luck with their bets.
Tyson Fury
Prior to his massive title fight against Wladimir Klitschko, current WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury made a £200,000 bet on himself to win. He claimed a unanimous decision victory. In doing so, he not only took home the WBA, WBO, and IBF belts as well as the title of lineal champion, but he also doubled his earnings on the night. That is quite the haul.
Mayweather
While he denies it, Mayweather is rumored to have bet on himself a number of times too. Considering his name recognition and sparkling 50-0-0 record, those wagers would have raked in a ton of dough.
It is understandably much less likely to see a fighter bet against themselves. After all, it is illegal. It has happened, though. At the 2016 Olympics, Irish boxer Steve Donnelly bet on himself to lose against Mongolian boxer Tuvshinbat Byamba. For some reason, he won by split decision in the end. Nevertheless, he and two other Olympians received “severe reprimands” from the International Olympic Committee. It’s hard to say what those reprimands entailed.
Conclusion
Fighters cannot bet against themselves. Offering yourself a reason to lose compromises the very integrity of the sport.
They can bet on themselves to win, although there are considerations to keep in mind. Fighters can only place straight bets on themselves to win a contest. Picking the method or time of victory is not allowed. Permitting such wagers would amount to permitting fight manipulation and harm the reputation of both boxing and legal sports betting.
With that said, unregulated sportsbooks, bookies and proxy betting are sneaky ways to get around this rule. From a legal standpoint, it can be difficult to charge a fighter if they explore those shadier avenues.