Mike Tyson rocking an 88% KO ratio was the stuff of dreams for promoters back in the day. So he would get the biggest fights in front of the biggest crowds, for the biggest cheques that could be signed, and that made him the face of boxing. This weekend, he will take on the man trying to be the new face of boxing, Jake ‘The Problem Child’ Paul.
Despite being relatively new to the sport, he’s already made millions from it by fighting combat sports legends and promoting the hell out of fights. But how does he fare in comparison to Tyson?
According to a report by GiveMeSport, Iron Mike’s career earnings are estimated to have been a whopping $443 million.
One-fourth of this came from just one fight, according to Marca. Towards the end of his career in 2002, he fought Lennox Lewis, which earned him a generational cheque of $100 million.
However, despite earning close to half a billion from his illustrious career, ‘Iron‘ has always struggled with finances. At one point in his life, the legendary boxer even had to file for bankruptcy.
Jake Paul, on the other hand, despite his careful matchups and clever fighting strategies hasn’t earned a fraction of what Tyson had made. The reports about how much he has made from the sport itself are quite conflicting since he hasn’t shared the details of his contract.
According to Forbes, his three fights from 2021 paid him an estimated $40 million. He’s expected to make another 40 from the Tyson fight.
Paul ‘s highest purse yet
Almost 2 decades after retiring from boxing, 58-year-old Tyson is still selling out stadiums. And thanks to ‘Iron’ Mike, Paul will now earn more than 10 times his highest purse this weekend.
“I’m here to make $40 million and knock out a legend”
Well, at least one of those two things is true right now. The last part remains debatable until the fight is over.
Tyson will be reportedly receiving the shorter end of the stick with $20 million from the fight purse. Of course, these are numbers excluding the endorsements and the PPV bonuses.
The final number is expected to be much greater as Netflix looks to enter the world of boxing with its first-ever live boxing event.
