BoxRec

In light of the recent Haye - Harrison fight and cries of match fixing - what are the rules of a boxer betting on himself? Surely there shouldn't be a rule against this? I mean sure, a boxer could purposely lose a match and that would be illegal but to try to win in a certain round - there is no guarantee that he can do so unless the opponent is "in" on it. According to this bbc article its "in the rules" of the BBB of C that boxers can't bet of themselves:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/9189389.stm


However I'm sure in recent times boxers have betted on themselves and admitted it openly with no repercussions. The main ones that spring to mind are when Carl "The Fridge" Baker beat Danny Williams in Prizefighter (odds of 10-1) and declared in the postfight interview words to the effect of (correct me if I'm wrong) "I've just made myself and lot of my friends a lot of money. Those were ridiculous odds."

The second is when Sprott beat Harrison first time round; I'm sure he stated he'd put a sizeable bet on himself and gave the winnings to his trainer.

Anyone care to clarify this for me? Surely it can't be one rule for boxer and one for another?

It seems the rule is no betting on a bout they are taking part in,
according to BBBC board secretary Robert Smith quoted on the Sporting Life website

We have a regulation in place that does not allow anybody to bet on a contest they are taking part in. So if he admitted it, he would have been in breach of that regulation. But he has denied it quite categorically.

We have a regulation in place that does not allow anybody to bet on a contest they are taking part in. So if he admitted it, he would have been in breach of that regulation. But he has denied it quite categorically.

He did admit to it though.

Err, didn't he say he got his friends to bet on the result.

I reckon it's all a big wind up anyway.

It's definatley a big wind up.

Just something he said after the bout.

However, the generally issue of boxers betting on themseleves is relevant, because it can indeed affect a bout- prejudice the odds, as they say. IE, a bookie might assess that there is a 50-50 chance a boxer will win on points, so the bookie might offer 4/5 (1.80).

But if the boxer isn't going for a KO, that result might be much more likely.

At the end of the day, bookies beware. (Or in Betfair, everyone beware.)

How new is the rule? I remember Steve Robinson went on Camera's to put a grand on him beating Hamed. Showed his ticket aswell.

Sky used to do a big thing on Robin Reid being a bookie (glad they didn't do the same deal with his other job) - and he used to put bets on himself as part of the build up.

Not sure if the Rob Reid ones were Real, but Robinson's was (sadly).

I have no problem with a fighter betting on himself to win; it's when they bet on the specifics of a fight like Haye said he did when it gets hard to swallow. If Haye had 500k on him beating Harrison then good luck to him - when he carries Audley for two rounds then knocks him out, that's not good.