Deontay Wilder may have suffered a humiliating defeat against Tyson Fury but the boxer reaped some financial benefits. The bout was the third between the two heavyweight champions. Their first encounter ended in a draw while the second and third meeting ended in a defeat for Wilder.
In 2018 when Wilder was the reigning heavyweight champion and Fury the challenger, he earned $4 million in base pay while Fury earned $3 million, per the California State Athletic Commission.
In 2020 when Wilder remained the champion, they each earned $5 million in base pay, per the Nevada State Athletic Commission. They were also guaranteed more than $25 million apiece plus a 50/50 split of PPV profits.
Prior to their third bout, Marca Sports reported that both fighters have a guaranteed purse of five million dollars plus the proceeds from the Pay-Per-View. In the second bout, some 800,000 people signed up for pay-per-view in North America alone, according to Marca.
However, ESPN reported prior to the bout that both boxers were likely to receive more than $25 million excluding pay-per-view. The same report further said the fight would involve a 60/40 purse split in favor of Fury.
This meant that at the very least, Fury’s base pay will be $6m to Wilder’s $4m. This is similar to Marca’s report in which they noted that Fury will take 60 percent, while challenger Wilder will take the remaining 40 percent.
Taking all of this into account, according to Marca, it is estimated that Fury will take around 30,000,000 dollars and Wilder taking home close to 20,000,000 dollars.
Last Saturday in Las Vegas, Fury knocked out the ‘Bronze Bomber’ in the 11th round in an epic bout that will go down in history as one of the best boxing bouts.
Despite his defeat, Wilder, 35, has indicated that he has no plans to retire. His trainer, Malik Scott, said in an interview with iFL TV that was quoted by Marca that he’s going nowhere.
“Deontay has set his family financially secure so he doesn’t have to fight to make a living,” Scott told iFL TV. “But retiring is not in his plans at all and not something we’ve discussed.”
Before losing to Fury in two successions, the American boxer was the WBC Heavyweight champion for five years. In addition, he had a record of 42 wins from 45 fights, with two defeats and a draw all coming against Fury.
