Comments Thread For: 'If George Foreman-Muhammad Ali was today, each fighter would make $200m'

[BoxingUpdates]

On Wednesday, it will be 50 years since Muhammad Ali caused a seismic shock that still reverberates through the sporting world, on grainy color tape and on the pages of magazines that have since faded to yellow. It was in Kinshasa, Zaire, Africa, that he stunned prohibitive favorite George Foreman, becoming the first man to defeat the big Texan, in an upset for the ages, stopping the heavyweight champion in the eighth round. Here, Tris Dixon sits down with one of Muhammad Ali's inner circle, business advisor Gene Kilroy, who reflects on those staggering events from half a century ago - on October 30, 1974.
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[Oldskoolg]

Boxing would be in a much better place if that level of fighter(s) was around today and the media actually covered it like they did then

[trippleupper]

$5 million adjusted for inflation today apparently = $35 million

[YouTube: Big Donch]

Gene used to always go to the same barbershop as mine. Always had good stories

[elfag]

well if boxing today was as popular as it was back then. but part of the popularity was also that it was accessible and on network TV.

I dont think you can just say there would be 400 million to spend on fighters. Mayweather didnt make 200m with pac, that fight was huge and he had the best contracts giving him the best percentage. that was also 10 years ago and PPV sales are down hard from then. people have so many options to be entertained and cost of living is high.


That fight being in zaire though with the government of zaire fronting money is a lot like the saudi prince today though. They dont care if its profitable they can lose money and call it promoting tourism. so maybe they do get 200m each but it wont turn a profit but if the prince made the fight. same way zaire probably lost money spending 10 million in the 70s when they had zero PPV revenue

[SUBZER0ED]

Ah, those hey days of boxing, when the sport was big and we were just kids...

[Oregonian]

well if boxing today was as popular as it was back then. but part of the popularity was also that it was accessible and on network TV.

I dont think you can just say there would be 400 million to spend on fighters. Mayweather didnt make 200m with pac, that fight was huge and he had the best contracts giving him the best percentage. that was also 10 years ago and PPV sales are down hard from then. people have so many options to be entertained and cost of living is high.


That fight being in zaire though with the government of zaire fronting money is a lot like the saudi prince today though. They dont care if its profitable they can lose money and call it promoting tourism. so maybe they do get 200m each but it wont turn a profit but if the prince made the fight. same way zaire probably lost money spending 10 million in the 70s when they had zero PPV revenue

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All true except Mayweather made $240 million against PAC.

[TonyRespectful]

$5 million adjusted for inflation today apparently = $35 million

They were underpaid !

[CubanGuyNYC]

well if boxing today was as popular as it was back then. but part of the popularity was also that it was accessible and on network TV.

I dont think you can just say there would be 400 million to spend on fighters. Mayweather didnt make 200m with pac, that fight was huge and he had the best contracts giving him the best percentage. that was also 10 years ago and PPV sales are down hard from then. people have so many options to be entertained and cost of living is high.


That fight being in zaire though with the government of zaire fronting money is a lot like the saudi prince today though. They dont care if its profitable they can lose money and call it promoting tourism. so maybe they do get 200m each but it wont turn a profit but if the prince made the fight. same way zaire probably lost money spending 10 million in the 70s when they had zero PPV revenue

In the 70s they had closed-circuit TV, which was that era’s PPV. People would pay to watch the fight in movie theaters.

From Wikipedia: “The fight had a record estimated 50 million viewers on closed-circuit television worldwide, grossing an estimated $100 million (inflation-adjusted $620 million) in revenue.“

[tomhawq]

Baseless figure.