Boxing is a hard sport that has little payout until athletes reach the top levels. Not just in the boxing world, but one of the highest-paid athletes of all time is boxing icon Floyd Mayweather Jr. Here are the 11 most lucrative boxing payouts of all time.
#11 Evander Holyfield
- Payout: $35 Million
- Year: 1997
- Inflation Adjustment: $68.6 Million
Evander Holyfield took on the infamous Mike Tyson in a two-fight series from 1996–1997. Holyfield, nicknamed “The Real Deal,” beat Tyson in both fights. Tyson didn’t leave Holyfield unscathed, though. Tyson famously bit off a large chunk of Holyfield’s ear in the third round. It got him disqualified, and Holyfield won by default. Tyson took home $30 Million from that fight.
#10 Canelo Alvarez
- Payout: $45 Million
- Year: 2019
- Inflation Adjustment: $55.3 Million
Canelo Alvarez fought against Sergey “The Krusher” Kovalev at the MGM Garden in Paradise, Nevada. This fight was part of the WBO Light Heavyweight Championship. This was Alvarez’s first fight after signing a $365 million deal with DAZN.
#9 Canelo Alvarez
- Payout: $45 Million
- Year: 2022
- Inflation Adjustment: $48.3 Million
This fight was part of a trilogy bout with Gennadiy “GGG” Golovkin. This fight wasn’t particularly exciting, as Alvarez allegedly used this fight as a tune-up after losing to Dmitry Bivol.
#8 Tyson Fury
- Payout: $50 Million
- Year: 2023
- Inflation Adjustment: $51.6 Million
This fight between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou happened in Saudi Arabia. It was Ngannou’s first professional fight, and due to a last-minute decision, he beat Fury. Despite losing, Fury still walked away with $50 million.
#7 Oscar De La Hoya
- Payout: $52 Million
- Year: 2007
- Inflation Adjustment: $78.8 Million
Oscar “Golden Boy” De La Hoya fought Floyd Mayweather in a 2007 bout. It was one of the highest revenue-earning fights in boxing history. Floyd Mayweather pulled through at the last second. Even though Mayweather won, he only took home $25 Million compared to De La Hoya’s $52 Million.
#6 Anthony Joshua
- Payout: $60 Million
- Year: 2019
- Inflation Adjustment: $73.8 Million
This career-high boxing re-match for Anthony Joshua happened in Saudi Arabia against Andy Ruiz. The fight lasted until after the time for the last round ran out.
#5 Floyd Mayweather Jr.
- Payout: $80 Million
- Year: 2013
- Inflation Adjustment: $108 Million
In September 2013, Canelo Alvarez faced Floyd “Money” Mayweather. It wasn’t a close fight at all, with Mayweather winning by majority decision. The tagline for this event was, “The One.”
#4 Connor McGregor
- Payout: $100 Million
- Year: 2017
- Inflation Adjustment: $128 Million
The historic 2017 fight was Connor McGregor’s boxing debut. Previous to boxing, McGregor was a UFC Octagon Star. Although McGregor predictably didn’t defeat Mayweather, he still earned a whopping $100 million from the fight, compared to Mayweather’s $30 Million.
#3 Manny Pacquiao
- Payout: $150 Million
- Year: 2015
- Inflation Adjustment: $199 Million
Filipino Manny Pacquiao vs. American Floyd Mayweather in 2015 was known as “The Fight of The Century.” This highly anticipated fight ended with Mayweather pulling through with a win by decision. And although he lost, “Pacman” earned $150 Million from the fight.
#2 Floyd Mayweather Jr.
- Payout: $275 Million
- Year: 2015
- Inflation Adjustment: $364 Million
Because Mayweather won the “The Fight of The Century” against Manny Pacquiao, he took home almost $100 million more. This fight was years in the making and was one of the most viewed of all time.
#1 Floyd Mayweather Jr.
- Payout: $280 Million
- Year: 2017
- Inflation Adjustment: $359 Million
On August 26, 2017, Floyd Mayweather Jr., achieved the largest paycheck against Connor McGregor known as “The Money Fight”. It was preceded by a worldwide press tour and generated a lot of traction and anticipation. At the time, Mayweather was the reigning two-division UFC Champion.
McGregor was a retired Lightweight UFC Champion. It was the most-viewed boxing match of all time, with 4.3 million pay-per-view buys, and the most-pirated streaming in boxing history.
Mayweather has earned approximately $1.1 billion. His current net worth is $450 million.
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