Which Boxers Offer the Least Entertainment for Money?

It’s a known fact that the world’s best boxers pocket millions for just 36 minutes (12 rounds of 3 minutes each) – at most – of time spent in the ring. Some are so good that they’re able to knock out their opponent within the first couple of rounds. We’ve compiled this infographic to see which fighters throughout the history of boxing have given the fans their money’s worth in entertainment.

Most Overpaid Boxer

Emmanuel Dapidran ‘Manny’ Pacquiao is the only eight-division world champion in the history of boxing. Over the years the Filipino boxer has won eleven major titles and is the first ever boxer to win the lineal championship in five different weight classes. He’s also the first to win major titles in four of the original eight weight classes: flyweight, featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight. There’s no surprise he was dubbed ‘Fighter of the Decade’ in the noughties. He’s generated approximately $19.2 million in pay-per-view buys and a huge sum of $1.2 billion in revenue from his 23 PPV bouts. According to Forbes magazine, in 2015 he was ranked as the second highest paid athlete in the world. However, according to our calculations, Pacquiao is one of the world’s most overpaid boxers. Head to our infographic to see this man’s stats and how much money he earned from missed punches. Here’s a fun fact for you – he’s now a senator in the Philippines.

Our infographic wouldn’t be complete without Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather. As we all know, he’s quite the shrewd businessman. The former American professional boxer is also a promoter with an impeccable record, 50:0 undefeated. He competed from 1996 to 2007 and 2009 to 2015, and made a one-fight comeback against MMA’s Conor McGregor in 2017, which went down in history as one of the most highly anticipated fights. In this bout alone he cleared more than $200 million, thus pushing his career earnings close to the $1 billion mark. Being a notorious gambler and risk-taker, he parted ways with Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum ten years ago to start his own promotion company. Cutting out the middleman allowed him to make millions with no one else but him calling all the shots. It’s no surprise that he’s landed in our most overpaid fighter category. How accurate are Mayweather’s punches and how much does he get on average per fight? Find out below.

Worst Value for Money Boxers

Not everyone can manage to get a ringside ticket, that’s why companies like Showtime and HBO offer a type of pay television service called PPV. Viewers pay on average $50 to watch their favourite fighter in the comfort of their own home. There are instances when the fight ends prematurely leaving viewers disgruntled for not getting their money’s worth and wanting more. The boxers in this category are the worst value for money.

Mike Tyson was the undisputed world heavyweight champion who competed between 1985 and 2005. He holds the record as the youngest boxer to win a heavyweight title at 20 years, four months and 22 days old. Tyson had an impressive track record; the fighter won his first 19 professional fights by knockout, 12 of them in the first round. He joined the boxing Hall of Fame with the likes of Floyd Patterson, Muhammad Ali, Time Witherspoon, Evander Holyfield and George Foremen as the only men in boxing history to have reclaimed a heavyweight championship after losing it – partly due to his time convicted in prison. Check out our infographic to find out how much time Tyson really spent in the ring.

British pro boxer Antony Joshua is another culprit in our list who’s been labelled the worst value for money. The unified world heavyweight champion has held the IBF title since 2016 and other titles like the WBA (Super) and IBO Championships since April 2017. He has also won silver and gold medals for his country in the Olympics. He is currently ranked as the world’s best active heavyweight and the second boxer, after Joe Frazier, to win a world heavyweight title while still reigning as Olympic champion at the top weight. But can he beat Tyson Fury in his upcoming match? This might be a good opportunity to place a bet. Check out Joshua’s punch accuracy and see how much he really costs viewers every time he steps into the ring.

But that’s not all – we have other huge names in boxing like Joe Frazier, Lennox Lewis, Sugar Ray Leonard, Joe Calzaghe, Oscar de la Hoya and more in our infographic below.

About the author

Eric Roberts

Sports Journalist

Eric has been a sports journalist for over 20 years and has travelled the world covering top sporting events for a number of publications. He also has a passion for betting and uses his in-depth knowledge of the sports world to pinpoint outstanding odds and value betting opportunities.