Specification of Variables Predictive of Victories in the Sport of Boxing

Abstract

Compared to other sports, very little research has been conducted on which variables can predict victory in the sport of boxing. This investigation examined whether boxers' age, weight change from their preceding contest, country of origin, total number of wins, total number of losses, performance in their preceding contest, or the possession of a championship title was predictive of a winning performance in a given bout. A 1-mo. sample of male professional boxing records for all contests held in the USA ( N = 400) were collected from the BoxRec online database. Logistic regression analysis indicated that only boxers' age, total number of wins and losses, and the performance in the preceding contest predicted significant variance in outcome.