Eye of the horse? It’s not how the song goes, but there’s something to be said for it. Boxers running in the light of early morning. Pounding meat in a training montage. They aren’t so different from thoroughbred horses and the teams working behind them.
Both are games of grit and determination. They produce the feeling that anything could happen. It’s maybe for that reason that both sports capture the attention of bettors in such a significant way.
Making an MLB or NBA wager is fun, but often enough, decisions are based more on how you feel about the team than they are their chances of winning.
When you make horse racing picks or choose a fighter, you have the opportunity to be more expansive in your research. Focus on their histories. The teams behind the champions. Maybe even more importantly, you have the chance to invest in the idea that hard work and determination can breed triumph even in the face of adversity.
There’s a reason boxing and horse racing are two of the most exciting sports you can watch. Let’s get into it.
The Unpredictable Nature of Boxing and Racing
Maybe the best thing about boxing and horse racing is the gritty volatility. In both cases, there are favorites. In the weeks or even months leading up to a major event, you will find dozens of expert opinions and statistically-based analyses. These reports are ok, but also frequently incorrect.
Both games have a higher rate of upsets than, say, March Madness predictions because of the format. Racing can produce surprising outcomes largely due to the fact that most events are only two minutes long. In that compressed time frame, even the slightest mistake is almost impossible to recover from. Boxing matches can be a little longer, but that element of raw volatility is still there. A really good punch can stay with a fighter for the rest of the fight and heavily influence the outcome.
The history of both sports is littered with jaw-dropping upsets. Mine That Bird shocked everyone with a 50-1 upset at the 2009 Kentucky Derby. Started dead last. Finished ahead. Donerail remains the biggest Derby longshot ever at 91-1 odds in 1913. Boxing has its own stunning moments.
Buster Douglas knocked out the “invincible” Mike Tyson in 1990. The odds were 42-1 against him. Andy Ruiz Jr. recently toppled Anthony Joshua in 2019 despite being a massive underdog. Such moments aren’t flukes. They’re part of what makes these sports so compelling.
In both cases, there is also a relatively limited amount of information. In NCAA basketball, by contrast, predictions are made following months of extremely comprehensive and multifaceted statistical reporting. A small degree of volatility is introduced to the equation thanks to the single-game elimination format, but upsets are uncommon.
With boxing and racing, it is different. Boxers, in particular, fight very selectively for health reasons. And horses have such short careers that a comprehensive data set is hard to develop.
Anticipation is the Best Seasoning
The Kentucky Derby is an all-day affair. People come from all over the world to watch. Attendance numbers exceed 150,000. Rich guests will fly in on private jets wearing clothes that cost more than your car. And, ok, this extravagance is somewhat ridiculous in any context, but especially when you consider how fast the actual event is. They don’t call it the most exciting two minutes in sports for nothing.
In boxing, the events will sometimes run a bit longer, but not much longer. The Tyson/Paul fight that captivated the world’s attention and brought in 108 million live viewers for Netflix involved only 16 minutes of active fighting time through eight rounds.
For these sports, the moments leading up to the events are almost as important as the main attraction. True fans will watch hours of commentary, recaps, and expert opinions in the moments leading up to a big fight or race.
Perseverance
Maybe more than anything, these games are united by the power of will. Maybe we’ve been trained by the movies. Rocky and Seabiscuit showing moviegoers the world over that anything is possible if you work hard and believe in yourself. But buried within this Hollywood-driven narrative is at least a grain of truth.
Upsets may not happen every day. However, in both horse racing and boxing, the potential for triumph is in the face of incredible adversity is what keeps so many viewers glued to the screen. As humans, we crave the hero’s journey. The story that hardship is both inevitable and surmountable, provided that appropriate effort has been taken.
Both on the track and in the ring, these stories continue to unfold year after year.
