Why are boxers so terribly underpaid?

Forget heavyweights! I am talking about non-heavywe BTW even some elite heavyweights make little to peanuts. When i say "terribly underpaid" I dont mean guys like Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Oscar De La Hoya, Canelo, Amir Khan, Andre Berto, Naseem Hamed, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto. You have many top boxers having to work ordinary jobs because boxing does not pay well. You have world champions that barely make a million. Remember after having paid taxes, promoter, manager, cornerman you keep around 450-500k. Which is honestly not that great for someone who is at the top of the sport. The best in the world. I know some people are gonna say paper champs and stuff like that. But if you are world champion you are the best fighter in the world in your weight class. The average NBA player makes 7.7 million USD. The average NBA player not the best ones. There around 400 NBA players in total. Could you ever imagine the top 400 boxers in the world earning on average even a quarter of that? The worst players in the NBA make about 800k. The are 500 players in the Premier League. Guess their average salary? 3 million USD+. Players in teams like Bournemouth and Hull earn more money than most elite boxers. This is unfair in my opinion. Boxing is probably the toughest sport in the world alongside mma. These guys put their health and even lifes on the line. What do you guys think? Should boxers be earning far more money?

Comments (14)

_Rexy_

Look at the flyweights and super flyweights. The lower your weightclass the less you make. Roman Gonzalez, Juan Francisco Estrada, Inoue, could barely by an expensive car with the money they made in their careers. Really great fighters from the lower weight classes have historically fought for peanuts. Eder Jofre I remember hearing would fly around the globe for 2 grand and traveling expenses. Almost nobody below lightweight's ever made a dime. Not Ricardo Lopez, Mark Johnson, Tapia, or Wonjongkam. I think Donaire's only million dollar purse was for Rigondeaux and Rigondeaux has never had a million dollar purse. No, it's not "the lower your weightclass the less you make" it has to do about putting asses in seats and if you move the needle. Rigo stopped getting paid big money (he was still getting six figures per fight) because the majority of fight fans thought he was boring and didn't care to watch him fight. Plus, how do you know how much these guys are making? Inoue got a 1 million dollar bonus on top of his purse for beating Donaire in the finals. Maybe he is smart and doesn't want to drive an expensive car?

5y ago

NY12345

What elite boxers are earning close to nothing? Name them. Look at the flyweights and super flyweights. The lower your weightclass the less you make. Roman Gonzalez, Juan Francisco Estrada, Inoue, could barely by an expensive car with the money they made in their careers. Really great fighters from the lower weight classes have historically fought for peanuts. Eder Jofre I remember hearing would fly around the globe for 2 grand and traveling expenses. Almost nobody below lightweight's ever made a dime. Not Ricardo Lopez, Mark Johnson, Tapia, or Wonjongkam. I think Donaire's only million dollar purse was for Rigondeaux and Rigondeaux has never had a million dollar purse.

5y ago

_Rexy_

What about the elite boxers earning close to nothing? Boxing is losing its popularity. Naseem Hamed a featherweight earned mega paydays bigger than some heavyweights. What elite boxers are earning close to nothing? Name them.

5y ago

NY12345

True one of the lowest but at the same time one of the highest when Oscar, Floyd, Manny, canelo were all at one point the highest paid athletes in The world Naseem Hamed was also among the highest paid athlethes in the world. He ranked at number-22 on Forbes' list of the world's highest-paid athletes for 1997. Thats absolutely incredible! 23 years old, a featherweight + in the 1990s.

5y ago

MONGOOSE66

U think boxers see under paid. Take a look at the UFC guys.

5y ago

boliodogs

They should but what is the answer to the problem? Most promoters won't pay boxers more than they have to. the less they pay them the more money they keep for themselves. Just pray Dana White does not make it as a boxing promoter.

5y ago

4truth

Too many greedy bastards at the top not leaving anything on the plate for the rest of the troops

5y ago

champion4ever

The best answer I could give is they are not promoted properly. They need to fight more frequently and get more television exposure in order build a fanbase and an audience to the point where they are not being underpaid.

5y ago

Luilun

Thats why most guys over 160 pounds in Mexico go to fake wrestling where they will make more and get more girls

5y ago

NY12345

If I’m jerking the curtain, fighting on the first Non televised fight (12 fight card, typically only 3-4 are televised) in an arena with nobody in it, how much should I realistically get paid? Let’s be real here. You gotta earn your way to making money. It’s why so many guys have jobs. Also try to remember that judges, refs and ringside doctors get paid before anyone else. What about the elite boxers earning close to nothing? Boxing is losing its popularity. Naseem Hamed a featherweight earned mega paydays bigger than some heavyweights.

5y ago

_Rexy_

5y ago

deathofaclown

Because it doesn’t generate much money outside of the top guys 99% of boxers couldn’t shift 500 tickets or generate enough interest on TV for a TV production to be worth it. Besides, you’re comparing it to team sports. If you do that, Then you really have to compare team sports to lesser teams in the same sport in the lower leagues. and then you’ll find like 99% of basketball teams don’t really generate money, 99% of soccer teams don’t really generate money, because there’s so many more local teams across the world than there is in the NBA, or the Premier League or whatever. Just like high-level boxers make up 1% or less of boxers that exist. Really the comparison has to use the basketball team as an entity and the boxer as an entity for it to work as a real comparison.

5y ago

Roadblock

Because its a fight and winners of fights take the lions share the rest fight for scraps . Rules regulations and modern society wont change the law of the jungle where dog eats dog, its underneath everything.

5y ago

NY12345

Boxing is one of the lowest paid professional sports their is. Period!

5y ago