Boxing Betting Guides: Main Card vs Under Card Fights

Boxing betting is one of the classic pastimes, and sharp punters can make a mint focusing on the right fights. But boxing cards are chock full of betting opportunities. For every main event fight, there is a slew of undercard fights on the ticket, and some boxing sportsbooks offer plays on many of these fights, too. But what fights are bet on the most, and which makes the most sense to focus on in an overall boxing betting strategy?

What is an Undercard?

The undercard is made up of all the less important fights on the same bill as the main promotional attraction. Fighters on the undercard can range from new professionals making their debut to seasoned veterans hoping to add another win to their ledger. There are two types of undercard fights. There are non-televised undercard fights that can only be seen by the people attending the bouts live at the venue, and there are televised undercard fights that a TV network shows before the main event.

For big boxing pay-per-views, there are usually three undercard fights before the main event. Televised undercard fighters are paid more than the fighters on the non-televised undercard and are often much further along in their careers as professionals.

What is a Main Event?

A main event is a single fight on which the entire promotion is built. Unlike most other sports, fighters compete under various promotional banners instead of just one overseeing entity. Before fights can happen, managers and promoters negotiate, and a contract is agreed upon and signed by all parties.

The main event is the reason the entire fight card is taking place. The participants squaring off in the main event get a share of the money brought in by the promotion. It’s also a more even fight and more likely to go the distance.

What About Co-Main Events?

Sometimes, the main televised undercard fight—the fight that happens directly preceding the main event—is billed by the card's promoters as a co-main event. Co-main events have become commonplace recently, with just about every boxing card using the language of co-main event to draw attention to the principle undercard. 

In reality, though, there is very seldom such a thing as a co-main event. People in the business mostly view this as a promotion tool. 

For boxing punting purposes, a co-main event is just an undercard fight.

Why It’s Best to Bet Main Events, Not Undercards

When betting on boxing, it’s usually best to stick to main events. A full night of boxing parlays might seem attractive, but undercards are often full of mismatches where betting a lot for an outright win on the favorite just doesn’t pan out in the long run. Fighters' careers are carefully managed so that they end up as main event attractions if at all possible. That means promotional matchmakers do their best to match them favorably against opposition on the way up the ranks so that they don’t end up facing someone who is truly viewed objectively as a threat until they can cash in on being a main event fighter.

Moreover, being a sharp boxing bettor is all about gathering and analyzing as much information about the prospective fighters as humanly possible. It’s hard to place bets like boxing prop bets or take advantage of the rounds market if there’s little info about the competitors. There are many important things to think about before betting on a fight.

Boxing is unlike any other sport in the world, and comprehending all the information around the 17 different weight classes, a slew of world rankings systems, varying punch stat statistics, and world championship data points is an incredibly complicated endeavor—even for those who have followed the sport for many years. Of utmost importance to all boxing wagers are the accomplishments of the participants, the styles of the fighters, and their overall talent levels and abilities.

When a fighter finally reaches main event status, there is usually enough information about him or her to make informed decisions for betting purposes. Main event fighters are where the most money should be spent in the boxing betting market, and undercard fights should just be mostly a place to accumulate data on fighters for future main event bets.