5 Highest Paid Boxers in the World Currently

Modified Feb 08, 2019 13:58 IST

The world's first televised boxing match was an exhibition in London between two middleweight contenders, Archie Sexton and Laurie Raiteri, in 1933. Over the years, it has evolved from free-to-air television to pay-per-view, which has resulted in a huge increase in earnings for the boxers.

As fighters move up through the rankings, promoters air big fights on PPV channels. It has earned boxing stars millions of dollars, sometimes from just one fight. Here are the five highest-paid boxers in the world from last year.

#5 Manny Pacquiao - $10 Million

Boxing's only eight-division world champion, Manny Pacquiao, last fought Adrien Broner on January 20, 2019, at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, where he won the fight via unanimous decision.

Pacquiao made a guaranteed $10 million for this bout which was aired on Showtime's pay-per-view channel. The fight reportedly sold about 400,000 PPV buys and generated around $6 million in ticket sales and is the reason for the Filipino's huge payday.

However, that's not a lot for Pacquiao as his career earnings have eclipsed $400 million till date. His fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr in 2015 is still the highest-grossing fight in the history of the sport. The bout sold about 4.6 million PPV buys and generated a record $71 million in ticket sales.

Pacquiao's pay-per-view numbers have declined though since then. He has headlined two PPV bouts since then, first against Jessie Vargas which sold around 300,000 PPV buys, the Filipino star's lowest in 8 years, and then against Broner.

#4 Deontay Wilder - $16.1 Million

Current WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, who last fought Tyson Fury on December 1, 2018, made around $14 Million last year. The fight ended in a majority draw and was cause of controversy among boxing fans around the world. It sold around 325,000 pay-per-view buys.

Before that, on March 3, 2018, Wilder fought Cuban heavyweight sensation Luis Ortiz. He earned $2.1 Million and won the fight via TKO in the tenth round.

Wilder and Fury are in talks of a rematch, although nothing has been cleared yet. The winner of the rematch is expected to fight British heavyweight star Anthony Joshua.

#3 Gennady Golovkin - $40 Million

The former WBC, WBA and IBF middleweight champion from Kazakhstan, Gennady Golovkin, last fought in a rematch against Mexican star Canelo Alvarez on September 15, 2018 and lost via majority decision.

Even so, Golovkin made a staggering $40 million in the losing effort. The fight sold about 1.1 million pay-per-view buys and generated $23.5 million in ticket sales. He is now expected to sign with sports streaming network DAZN from which he could make around $40 Million for a two-fight deal.

#2 Anthony Joshua - $51.6 Million

The WBO, WBA and IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua fought former heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin on September 22, 2018. He knocked out the Russian in the seventh round to successfully defend his world titles. Joshua made a staggering $25.8 million and sold out the Wembley Stadium while doing so.

Before that, he fought Joseph Parker on March 31, 2018, in a title unification fight. He won the fight via unanimous decision and made $25.8 million in the process from sponsorship deals and pay-per-view revenue.

#1 Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez - $65 Million

Mexican superstar and current WBA and WBC middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez last fought on December 15, 2018 against Rocky Fielding. He knocked out the British star in the third round to win the regular WBA super-middleweight title and made a cool $15 million from that fight.

Before that he fought middleweight kingpin Gennady Golovkin on September 15, 2018, and he defeated him via unanimous decision. Canelo made a staggering $50 million from that fight counting sponsorship, ticket sales and pay-per-view revenue. He is next scheduled to fight current IBF middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs on May 4, 2018.

Edited by sam.abraham