# Is it illegal in boxing to bet on your own fight?



## Plutus (May 6, 2015)

In other sports there are significant penalties for athletes who gamble. The thing that sparked this question was ESPN showing that the initial odds on Mayweather vs Berto was -10,000. If that was even in the realm of possibility to be accurate, would there be anything to stop Mayweather from betting 10mm on Berto and throwing the fight?


----------



## adamcanavan (Jun 5, 2012)

Yes, of course that's illegal


----------



## thehook13 (May 16, 2013)

Match fixing for gambling purposes is an issue in boxing and any other sport/racing. It's a criminal offence that can carry jail time varying on the state and territory. Athletic commissions and sports/racing organizations will also have their own laws as well which usually include things like life bans. In Australia it can carry a maximum penalty of 10 year prison.

This not only goes for the person influencing the outcome of a bet, it's for all using of corrupt conduct information or inside information for betting purposes. Needless to say it's not something that's enforced well, it's hard to prove.

Example of a law in QLD, Australia.

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/sa/bill/clcagab2013487/


----------



## Cableaddict (Jun 6, 2013)

thehook13 said:


> Example of the law in QLD, Australia.
> 
> http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/sa/bill/clcagab2013487/


That says it's illegal to influence the outcome of a fight. It doesn't preclude betting on it.

It would seem logical that it should be illegal to bet ON THE OTHER GUY, but I don't see why Floyd, for example, couldn't bet on himself.


----------



## poorface (Jun 14, 2013)

I believe in the US fighters can bet on themselves but not in the UK, with Haye's comments after the Harrison bout getting him in trouble.


----------



## thehook13 (May 16, 2013)

Cableaddict said:


> That says it's illegal to influence the outcome of a fight. It doesn't preclude betting on it.
> 
> It would seem logical that it should be illegal to bet ON THE OTHER GUY, but I don't see why Floyd, for example, couldn't bet on himself.


Hopkins used to bet on himself from memory, in that Tito fight. It seems unethical, you could in theory hold a guy up for a few rounds and finish him to influence the outcome. As far as betting on the other guy to win that is a massive conflict of interest. How could you not influence the outcome of a fight if you are the one betting to lose. I'll look into it more later, sounds interesting


----------



## Bogotazo (May 17, 2013)

Haye:

â€œIâ€™m hoping I can give the fans value for money, but I canâ€™t see it. If I was a betting man, which Iâ€™m not because itâ€™s against British Boxing Board of Control rules to bet on yourself, I would go for the second round."

Hopkins from wiki:

"For the first time in many years, Hopkins was an underdog in the betting, which led the confident Hopkins to place a $100,000 bet on himself to win the bout. (The $100K came from a sponsorship deal Hopkins had with online casino site Golden Palace; Hopkins even had the GoldenPalace.com website displayed on his back for the fight.)"

From poking around google, it seems they can bet on themselves to win outright, but not against themselves or in a specific round. I think Wright bet on himself as well.


----------



## tliang1000 (Jun 5, 2013)

i have heard that they can bet on themselves to win straight bet only as well.


----------



## PivotPunch (Aug 1, 2012)

adamcanavan said:


> Yes, of course that's illegal


No its not illegal hopkins openly admitted to betting on himself vs trinidad and nothign happened, many boxers do it you just aren#t allowed to influence the outcome but if you bet on yourself you arent doing that


----------



## JamieC (Jun 2, 2012)

PivotPunch said:


> No its not illegal hopkins openly admitted to betting on himself vs trinidad and nothign happened, many boxers do it you just aren#t allowed to influence the outcome but if you bet on yourself you arent doing that


Ye but he's responding to the OP scenario in which Floyd throws the fight, of course that's illegal

In Britain you can't bet on your own fight as per BBBoC rules but fighters do it as I don't think it's actually illegal, just gets you in trouble with the British sanctioning body but they all do it anyway


----------



## Chatty (Jun 6, 2012)

As said you can et on gourself to win but not on specific rounds. Haye and Froch both got i to trouble for that but ultimately they didnt get punished.

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk


----------



## Mushin (Dec 12, 2013)

What's stopping you from giving money to a friend so they can bet on your opponent and then you split the winnings?


----------



## ThatBoxingGuy2022 (Aug 28, 2014)

I always wondered if a boxer put money on themself to win in 1-6, that is not fixing at all because realistically if anyone could finish the fight that quick they would

Its just when you start picking rounds like 7-12, or even 2-6 that means you purposely carried it that extra round so that to me seems like cheating the system

Also betting on decision because that means you might carry your opponent, but betting on a KO or rounds as long as it includes the first round doesnt seem a problem


----------



## The Sweet Science (Jun 5, 2013)

thehook13 said:


> *Hopkins used to bet on himself from memory, in that Tito fight.* It seems unethical, you could in theory hold a guy up for a few rounds and finish him to influence the outcome. As far as betting on the other guy to win that is a massive conflict of interest. How could you not influence the outcome of a fight if you are the one betting to lose. I'll look into it more later, sounds interesting


This is correct. Hopkins was paid to wear the GoldenPalace.com paint on his back and got paid like $150,000 or something and then bet it all on himself to win the fight.


----------



## Jim Kelly (Jul 12, 2012)

if floyd loses and they find out about the winnings..they will investigate Floyd's ass with the quickness.


----------



## PivotPunch (Aug 1, 2012)

Mushin said:


> What's stopping you from giving money to a friend so they can bet on your opponent and then you split the winnings?


The law, but if no one finds out then obviously nothing. There's a reason the mob was heavily involved in boxing in the early days and that there are still dives happening whether yo take a dive and get paid from the opponent or take a dive and bet on yourself and have others bet on it is probably the same I imagine.



Chatty said:


> As said you can et on gourself to win but not on specific rounds. Haye and Froch both got i to trouble for that but ultimately they didnt get punished.
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk


Wasnt there a rumour that Haye bet or had some friends or family bet on the round in which he finished Audley and that this was the reason he literally did almost nothing until he seemingly just decided to finish him when he felt like it?


----------



## Jim Kelly (Jul 12, 2012)

Bogotazo said:


> Haye:
> 
> â€œIâ€™m hoping I can give the fans value for money, but I canâ€™t see it. If I was a betting man, which Iâ€™m not because itâ€™s against British Boxing Board of Control rules to bet on yourself, I would go for the second round."
> 
> ...


how much did hopkins earn in total for that tito fight, purse, betting etc??


----------



## thehook13 (May 16, 2013)

A.C.S said:


> I always wondered if a boxer put money on themself to win in 1-6, that is not fixing at all because realistically if anyone could finish the fight that quick they would
> 
> Its just when you start picking rounds like 7-12, or even 2-6 that means you purposely carried it that extra round so that to me seems like cheating the system
> 
> Also betting on decision because that means you might carry your opponent, but betting on a KO or rounds as long as it includes the first round doesnt seem a problem


There's all kinds of bets. Another one is the under or over 6 rounds bet.

I could of sworn in the last lsc fight he refused to try finish that mongo. Like he wanted 12 Rd decision


----------



## Chatty (Jun 6, 2012)

PivotPunch said:


> The law, but if no one finds out then obviously nothing. There's a reason the mob was heavily involved in boxing in the early days and that there are still dives happening whether yo take a dive and get paid from the opponent or take a dive and bet on yourself and have others bet on it is probably the same I imagine.
> 
> Wasnt there a rumour that Haye bet or had some friends or family bet on the round in which he finished Audley and that this was the reason he literally did almost nothing until he seemingly just decided to finish him when he felt like it?


Yeah he said he told all his family and friends to bet on round 3 and then carried him. Froch said the same in his book. Think they both got pulled for it but not punished.

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk


----------



## PivotPunch (Aug 1, 2012)

Chatty said:


> Yeah he said he told all his family and friends to bet on round 3 and then carried him. Froch said the same in his book. Think they both got pulled for it but not punished.
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk


If I was a boxer damn it would be tempting at least if i were someone like Wlad fighting Mormeck or Danny Garcia's victim prior to the Peterson fight I would seriously think about betting the purses of my last few fights at least if I was a.) sure that I cold stop the other guy whenever I wanted and b.) if he had no chance of stopping me witha lucky punch. Then again the ballsiest thing to date was still Hopkins betting on himself vs trinidad because that was not a one sided fight on paper it was a fight he wast expected to lose.
But I also seem to remember that Hopkins bet on other fights as well not sure if it was the Pavlik or the Kovalev fight or both


----------



## Slip (Jul 17, 2012)

Even if it's illegal it's so easy to around 

Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk


----------



## igor_otsky (Jul 24, 2012)

I heard pacquiao did a bet on mayweather during their last fight and won lots of monay.


----------



## Mexi-Box (Jun 4, 2013)

I think Mayweather bets on himself too. If they can't, that's the first time I've heard of it.


----------



## Slick Ric (Apr 7, 2015)

Mexi-Box said:


> I think Mayweather bets on himself too. If they can't, that's the first time I've heard of it.


Yeah, I remember an interview where he said he places bets on himself and that it's perfectly legal in Vegas as long as he isn't betting on himself to lose.


----------



## Bogotazo (May 17, 2013)

Jim Kelly said:


> how much did hopkins earn in total for that tito fight, purse, betting etc??


I think Hopkins made $2.8 million, but the 100,000 dollars he bet was part of a sponsorship deal with the website. I've seen he was +350 so if you do the math you'll get it.


----------



## Vaitor (Apr 22, 2015)

thehook13 said:


> There's all kinds of bets. Another one is the under or over 6 rounds bet.
> 
> I could of sworn in the last lsc fight he refused to try finish that mongo. Like he wanted 12 Rd decision


Heresy. That insurance salesman was unskilled and unrefined but the motherfucker was tough as nails. Santa Bitch threw all he could at the dude...


----------



## Slick Ric (Apr 7, 2015)

Bogotazo said:


> I think Hopkins made *$31.81 million*, but the 100,000 dollars he bet was part of a sponsorship deal with the website. I've seen he was +350 so if you do the math you'll get it.


No way dude.


----------



## JeffJoiner (Jun 5, 2013)

Bogotazo said:


> I think Hopkins made $31.81 million, but the 100,000 dollars he bet was part of a sponsorship deal with the website. I've seen he was +350 so if you do the math you'll get it.


Yes, he was +350. I had money I desperately needed on that fight. Paid my rent that month. Not that my rent was much back then, but it was nice having a roof and all.


----------



## JeffJoiner (Jun 5, 2013)

I hear/read Mosley lost the equivalent of his purse against Forrest the second time around. Knowing the way stories are exaggerated, that means he probably lost a few grand.


----------



## Bogotazo (May 17, 2013)

Cormega said:


> No way dude.


Wait that wouldn't make sense. 2.8 million lol.


----------



## ThatBoxingGuy2022 (Aug 28, 2014)

thehook13 said:


> There's all kinds of bets. Another one is the under or over 6 rounds bet.
> 
> I could of sworn in the last lsc fight he refused to try finish that mongo. Like he wanted 12 Rd decision


Yeah under 6 isnt fixing but over 6 is, LSC definitely bets on himself lol


----------



## One to watch (Jun 5, 2013)

Didn't curtis woodhouse win something like 50k after betting on himself (or getting someone else to) put a bet on him winning the british title.

For anybody not british,Woodhouse was an active premiership footballer who turned to boxing.obviously it got a lot of media attention even though he was an average (top flight) pro footballer because he gave up an 'easy" life for the hurt game.

So he had no experience bar a bit of bag work from what I remember,and so he managed to get a good price on his bet.


----------



## thehook13 (May 16, 2013)

Vaitor said:


> Heresy. That insurance salesman was unskilled and unrefined but the motherfucker was tough as nails. Santa Bitch threw all he could at the dude...


I didn't see it that way at the time, I will rewatch it. But yeah, only heresay


----------



## Cableaddict (Jun 6, 2013)

OK, was it hearsay or heresy. I'm confused. :huh



:lol:


----------



## E R Vegas (May 16, 2013)

I'm pretty sure they can bet on themselves to win. I think telling a bunch of friends and family to bet on anything other than you to lose is fine too. I just met a boxer who was a big dog on a TV card and the over under was set very low as well, on the belief he would be KOed early. He said he told all his people to bet the over... he wasn't sure he could win, but he was certain he would hang in there for a while. I'v heard other such stories. 

One thing to keep in mind is that it is fairly hard to bet a ton of money on most boxing matches, at least from within the US. Most Vegas books don't even take bets on many boxing matches and they only have high limits on the huge matches, where the winning fighter stands to make more in future paydays from winning than he could by throwing the fight. 

I've heard a guy from, I think, 5dimes interviewed and he mentioned that when they take bets on small MMA promotions, the limits are low to prevent fixing. The idea being, nobody is going to throw a match for $500. (Same when they take action on stuff like high school football.)


----------



## Wallet (May 31, 2012)

Curtis Woodhouse put Â£5000 on himself to win a British title at 50/1.


----------



## Cableaddict (Jun 6, 2013)

I still wonder if Wilder bet on the over in his fight with Stiverne.


----------



## NoMas (Jun 7, 2012)

Jack Johnson used to bet on himself alot too...

I can see round betting or betting on yourself to lose a problem, but in a fight you are always trying to win, so betting on yourself to win doesnt seem a problem...


----------



## 1971791 (Jul 14, 2012)

Bogotazo said:


> Wait that wouldn't make sense. 2.8 million lol.


I thought he won $400k ( with a $100k bet at 4-1 odds). $2.8m is waaaay too much.


----------



## Casual Benson's Unknown (Jun 5, 2012)

Wallet said:


> Curtis Woodhouse put Â£5000 on himself to win a British title at 50/1.


I love this one, 50/1 is shit odds though, still a decent payout tbf


----------



## knowimuch (May 9, 2014)

Hopkins and Tarver made a bet between themselfs if I recall correctly


----------



## thehook13 (May 16, 2013)

Cableaddict said:


> OK, was it hearsay or heresy. I'm confused. :huh
> 
> :lol:


Now that you point it out.... no idea


----------



## Slick Ric (Apr 7, 2015)

1971791 said:


> I thought he won $400k ( with a $100k bet at 4-1 odds). $2.8m is waaaay too much.


I believe he was factoring in Hopkins' fight purse as well.


----------



## quincy k (Oct 4, 2013)

hopkins had a 50k bet with joppy that he would ko william

chavez and camacho had a 100k bet






pazienza tried to bet duran on not getting kod for $10.00


----------



## Wallet (May 31, 2012)

Unknown HOOOOOOOK said:


> I love this one, 50/1 is shit odds though, still a decent payout tbf


Yeah, it really was an awful price at the time.

Says a lot about his achievement that we think that, I suppose.


----------



## Bogotazo (May 17, 2013)

1971791 said:


> I thought he won $400k ( with a $100k bet at 4-1 odds). $2.8m is waaaay too much.


I'm talking about his purse.


----------



## 1971791 (Jul 14, 2012)

Bogotazo said:


> I'm talking about his purse.


Fair :thumbsup


----------



## ThatBoxingGuy2022 (Aug 28, 2014)

Unknown HOOOOOOOK said:


> I love this one, 50/1 is shit odds though, still a decent payout tbf


50/1 means you put Â£1 to win Â£50


----------



## Casual Benson's Unknown (Jun 5, 2012)

A.C.S said:


> 50/1 means you put Â£1 to win Â£50


lol

I understand the concept of odds

I just think it's crazy that a random bloke (essentially), in his mid/late twenties who has never boxed only got 50/1 on him picking up a British title, which is no easy feat.


----------



## Mal (Aug 25, 2013)

Plutus said:


> In other sports there are significant penalties for athletes who gamble. The thing that sparked this question was ESPN showing that the initial odds on Mayweather vs Berto was -10,000. If that was even in the realm of possibility to be accurate, would there be anything to stop Mayweather from betting 10mm on Berto and throwing the fight?


Betting to win is alright. To lose though, would clearly suggest a fight thrown. There's a reason not anyone (That I can think of) has done that. Hopkins was one of the first to bet on himself that I can recall. I think he got paid 100K for the temporary back tatt, and used that money to place a bet on him winning versus trinidad. Made a good amount of extra money from that.


----------



## Chatty (Jun 6, 2012)

One to watch said:


> Didn't curtis woodhouse win something like 50k after betting on himself (or getting someone else to) put a bet on him winning the british title.
> 
> For anybody not british,Woodhouse was an active premiership footballer who turned to boxing.obviously it got a lot of media attention even though he was an average (top flight) pro footballer because he gave up an 'easy" life for the hurt game.
> 
> So he had no experience bar a bit of bag work from what I remember,and so he managed to get a good price on his bet.


Woodhouse got mocked more than Flintoff. I remember people being seethinh at a footballer thinking he could cross sports.

I always felt good luck to him and was pleased when he won the British title.

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk


----------



## ThatBoxingGuy2022 (Aug 28, 2014)

Unknown HOOOOOOOK said:


> lol
> 
> I understand the concept of odds
> 
> I just think it's crazy that a random bloke (essentially), in his mid/late twenties who has never boxed only got 50/1 on him picking up a British title, which is no easy feat.


Oh lol maybe the bookies knew something was up

There was a site where if you signed up as a new customer you Klitschko KO at 7/1 or something crazy its like they knew it wasnt going to happen


----------



## Wallet (May 31, 2012)

A.C.S said:


> Oh lol maybe the bookies knew something was up
> 
> There was a site where if you signed up as a new customer you Klitschko KO at 7/1 or something crazy its like they knew it wasnt going to happen


That's a pretty standard new bet offer. They're generally limited to Â£10 or Â£20 maximum bet though.


----------



## Davidreed (Dec 7, 2015)

Gambling is not liked by any sensible & true athlete. And for sports either it is boxing,mma or something else, gambling ruin sports spirit.


----------



## nvs (May 16, 2013)

Did Fury bet himself against Klitschko, i think i read about it somewhere.


----------



## GlassJaw (Jun 8, 2013)

I always figured it wouldn't be legal, but if I remember Hopkins had that temporary tattoo advertisement on his back for some fight, and Lampley said that he got $100,000 for that and he turned around and bet it on himself to win.


----------

