How does the breakdown of a fighters fee work?

[MrZeus]

If anyone who knows alot about this in detail could help me out with it would be very helpful.

Say a fighter gets paid 1 mil for a fight, how much of this cash is he likely to end up keeping. Since tax is like 30-40% and the manager gets 10% (not sure about that), then the trainer, cutman and the rest of a fighters team all need to be looked after, how much money is a fighter likely to actually out of a 1 mil paycheck for instance. Cos in theory it seems like they wouldn't get that much.

[MrZeus]

Anyone................................

[Mike_Dee]

i've been wondering about this myself. What about the sanctioning fee: Who pays it? The promoter or the fighter? If it is the fighter that pays for sanction, it doesn't seem right. It should be the promoter paying for those sacntion fees.

[dansapien]

i think its generally the promoter who pays the sanctioning fee, cutmen are generally on anywhere from 1-5% if that helps.

[MrZeus]

Yeah i completely forgot about the sanctioning fee. I really don't know how much that costs typically but it wouldn't seem right if the fighter had to foot the bill. Maybe that's the reason fighters don't seem so keen on unifying a division these days, lol.

[HeartAttack]

The fighter doesn't get taxed so you can take that out of the equation. Yes the get taxed but its up to their discretion if they pay it, its not automatically taken out. Sanctioning fees are paid by promoters generally. Manager gets a cut anywherer from 10%-25% depends on the contract. I know managers who pay the trainers themselves and boxers who pay it, it once again depends on the contract and of course the lower the manager % the more likely the fighter pays the cornermen. Then the promoter usually gets a cut if they don't promote the fight. Like when Don King loses a pursebid, he still wins, because he gets a % of the purse of his fighter. But basically after taxes and fees (training camp expenses are always paid by manager or promoter; if not the fighter needs new management) the fighter will walk away with 650K before the 350K taxes if they pay them so 300k out of 1mil. A smart fighter will sign a contract where the fees come out after the taxes, in that case they can make another 120k so that would be 420K. I can give breakdowns if necessary but this is a basic estimate off the top of my head.

[MrZeus]

The fighter doesn't get taxed so you can take that out of the equation. Yes the get taxed but its up to their discretion if they pay it, its not automatically taken out. Sanctioning fees are paid by promoters generally. Manager gets a cut anywherer from 10%-25% depends on the contract. I know managers who pay the trainers themselves and boxers who pay it, it once again depends on the contract and of course the lower the manager % the more likely the fighter pays the cornermen. Then the promoter usually gets a cut if they don't promote the fight. Like when Don King loses a pursebid, he still wins, because he gets a % of the purse of his fighter. But basically after taxes and fees (training camp expenses are always paid by manager or promoter; if not the fighter needs new management) the fighter will walk away with 650K before the 350K taxes if they pay them so 300k out of 1mil. A smart fighter will sign a contract where the fees come out after the taxes, in that case they can make another 120k so that would be 420K. I can give breakdowns if necessary but this is a basic estimate off the top of my head.

Great post. I'm guessing in that case that most big-earning fighters these days have "methods" of ensuring the tax payments are avoided.

Let's face it, boxing being boxing means these money obsessed fighters aren't gonna give away one penny more than they can get away with. It's a shady sport at the best of times let alone when a fighter's cash is on the line

[clemente]

the 30 -40% in taxes is for regular joe's like me and you.
for boxer's its a lot less. boxing is there business, so they write off all their expenses. if you have a good accountant it can mean pretty much everything, from clothes, cars, phones, hotels, flights etc. etc.
so theres a lot of ways to get around the taxes especially for boxers.

[HeartAttack]

the 30 -40% in taxes is for regular joe's like me and you.
for boxer's its a lot less. boxing is there business, so they write off all their expenses. if you have a good accountant it can mean pretty much everything, from clothes, cars, phones, hotels, flights etc. etc.
so theres a lot of ways to get around the taxes especially for boxers.

Exactly. For most fighters they get 17% taken off for taxes because of small purses, the big guys 35%, but because of good accountants its more like 20%.

[Round 1]

the 30 -40% in taxes is for regular joe's like me and you.
for boxer's its a lot less. boxing is there business, so they write off all their expenses. if you have a good accountant it can mean pretty much everything, from clothes, cars, phones, hotels, flights etc. etc.
so theres a lot of ways to get around the taxes especially for boxers.

True, once you sign a fight contract, everything that you spent up to fight night can be deducted, from gas to drive to the gym, special gear for roadwork, training, spa fees, nutritionists and miscellaneous expenses.