Boxing pay

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I don't know if you care about figures from the past, but...

 

are boxers paid too much when the promoters say they make no money or make huge losses even when the ticket prices are high??

 

***All of this is based of years of reading about boxing, viewing purse bid results, speaking to fighters. I may be way off the mark***


A British Journeyman will be getting anywhere between £500 to £2,000 depending on the profile of the fighter he is facing, and the weight he is fighting at. Heavyweights typically get paid more across the board. If the fight is on TV against an Olympian, or he is a last minute replacement, he will probably get more.

A decent prospect, say a guy who comes out of the ABA's/GB Squad will be getting between £2,000-£5,000. They can boost this with personal ticket sales of course, and sponsorship. Maybe when then are holding a Southern Area/English belt they will be getting close to £10,000.

Once a fighter gets to British title title level they will be making between £10,000 - £20,000 per fight. You could probably double that for a bigger domestic fight that's main event or a Sky card. Once a fighter is making over £30,000 a year from 2-3 fights they can afford to go full time. Doesn't sound like much but when you consider most of this guys have no real education, it will be difficult for them to make much more than that a year.

The Olympians is probably a whole different story. DeGale was making £100,000 a fight and probably got a major signing on bonus.

Once you get beyond its a complete blow up. If your a fighter like say, John Simpson and you win a European title you probably won't be taking in big bucks, and even if you get a world title fight it will be for short money. But if your a big name like a Darren Barker, able to sell tickets, when you fight for a European title or challenge for a world title your looking at a much bigger purse.

If you take a fighter like Jamie Moore, from 2003 when he won the Commonwealth title, to 2010 he probably made about £400,000 over 20 fights. Nothing major, but he probably owns his house outright. A mortgage payment is most peoples biggest expense so without that he can live comfortably doing personal training and the occasional sky Gig.

Some fighters invest there money, like Michael Jennings set up a security firm that does well. Froch was in a great position before he got to European level because he invested in property. Fighters like Kevin Mitchell & John Murray spent there cash on booze and worse and probably have nothing left.

Guys like Barker, Rees, Purdy, Murray will have taken home over £100,000 for there recent trips to overseas. If they invest that properly, pay of there house they can make themselves comfortable.

If you are a world champion and your not making over £100,000 for a fight theirs something seriously gone wrong. Burns & Cleverly are probably around that mark. Fighters like Froch, Khan are will be getting 6 figures for the lower level fights and close to 7 figures for the bigger ones.

Once you have US TV + Sky Box Office + Sold Out Arena, that's when you start making multi million pound paydays.

 

Good read, cheers mate.

 

One thing missed out there is that it is traditional for fighters winning the WBO Cruiserweight Title to receive a Vauxhall Zafira as part of their purse.

 

do boxers make more money from selling tickets or from tv? i guess if its PPV then its TV but what about a non PPV TV fight?

 

Depends on allot of things mainly the number of tickets. If they sell 5,000+ they probably make more from the arena. But TV brings in a rights fee and additional sponsorship. The more profile the fight has, the more you get from TV & Sponsors.

 

When Burns left fish eyes. He was supposed to have made around £750,000. From his time with him.