Why are boxers so terribly underpaid?

[kidbazooka]

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

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

[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.

[GrandpaBernard]

A lump sum of $500,000 is a lot of money. Is it enough to live like a baller and have multiple super cars? No

But being $500,000 liquid is more than most people will ever see.

Now imagine having a few $500,000 paydays within 5 years. Man should be set for life if he doesn’t ball outta control

[MONGOOSE66]

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

[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.

[_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.

[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.

[_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?