Biggest Price Pools on Boxing Matches Ever

Boxing matches between renowned boxing heavyweights tend to attract a lot of attention and millions of dollars exchange hands in the process. The big money boxing events have been around since the classic ‘Thrilla in Manila’ where Joe Frazier took on Muhammad Ali in 1975. This list showcases some of the biggest price pools that have been placed on boxing matches in the history of boxing.

Shane Mosley vs Floyd Mayweather – £78.3 million

The bout between Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather was a non-title match at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Sin City. It took place in May, 2010. This fight generated 1.4 million buys in America which raked up revenues of £78.3 million. Mayweather won by unanimous decision and took home an approximately £40 million while Mosley took home £6.7 million. In the fight, Floyd was nearly beaten at the second round, but the fight went on to 10 rounds. This is where Mayweather was able to put up a fight and win by a large margin.

George Foreman vs Evander Holyfield – £80 milliom

In this fight, Big George Foreman had taken a break from fighting from 1977 to 1987 after he lost to Jimmy Young. This was one of his comeback fights in 1991. At this time, Evander Holyfield was the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World. This was a heavily contested match where Foreman lost a chance to become the world oldest boxing champ by a small margin. This match had 1.45 million buys that generated a total of £80 million. Foreman took home an estimated £12.5 million while Holyfield took home an estimated £20 million. Despite losing, Foreman went on to win other titles including Lineal, WBA and IBF.

Miguel CottoVs Floyd Mayweather- £94 million

Before this match was announced, it was believed that Floyd Mayweather would fight Manny Pacquiao. However, these two champs could not agree on various terms. Cotto was a recently retired Puerto Rican champion that had a record of 37-2. This fight took place on May 5, 2012, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. This was a competitive bout where Cotton lost by a very small margin. This march generated 1.5 million pay-per-view buys that generated £94 million. From the fight Mayweather went home with a whopping £45 million while Cotto took home an estimated £8 million.

Peter McNeeleyvs Mile Tyson – £96 million

This particular bout took place on the 19th of August 1995. Mike Tyson had been in prison for four years from a rape conviction. This was his come-back match in four years. McNeeley was also a professional boxer with 36-1 record on his back. The match garnered 1.55 buys that resulted in £96 million in sales. Tyson knocked out McNeeley in a record 10 seconds. He rose up but was knocked out again at 1:29 minute mark. It was at this point that McNeeley manager stepped into the league and his player was disqualified. Mike Tyson went home with about £25 million and his contestant with about £8 million.

Mike Tyson vs Evander Holyfield II – £100 million

This was a rematch of the Mike Tyson vs Evander Holyfield II fight after Holyfield won the first game by TKO in the 11th round of the match. This competition took place at MGM Grand in Las Vegas in June 1997. The match had over 1.6 million buys that resulted in about £100 million in sales. The fight was stopped at the third round when Mike Tyson bit off the top of Holyfield left ear and spit it on the floor. Holyfield took home a whopping £35 million while Mike Tyson took home £30 million. This was the highest amount that boxers had taken home so far.

Mike Tyson v Lennox Lewis – £112 million

In June of 2002, Lennox Lewis challenged Mike Tyson to a fight. This fight took place at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis, Tennessee. It is the fourth highest-grossing fight in history as it garnered £112 million in sales. The fight has spurred tensions between the two players and even resulted in a brawl between supporters of each side at a conference before the fight. Mike Tyson ended up losing to Lennox on the eighth round of the match. Lennox had dominated for most of the match. Each of the players took home a whopping £17.5 million.

Oscar De La Hoya v Floyd Mayweather- £136 million

The fight took place at MGM Grand in May of 2007. At this time, De La Hoya was the reigning WBC lightweight middleweight champion. Floyd Mayweather also had a good record of 37-0 before the fight. Tickets sold out three hours after the fight was announced and brought in revenue worth £136 million. Floyd won the game by split decision when two judges give him a high score while the remaining judge gave a win to Oscar De La Hoya. At the end of the fight, Oscar bagged a whopping £52 million while Mayweather took home £25 million. This was the third highest-grossing fight ever.

Floyd Mayweather v Canelo Alvarez –£150 million

Before the match took place, Canelo Alvarez from Mexico has an unbeaten record in 44 fights, a similar number to Floyd Mayweather. The fight took place at MGM Grand in September of 2013. This match had a record revenue of £150 million. The game ended in a split decision where two judges ruled in favour of Mayweather but the third judge scored the fight as a draw. It is estimated that Mayweather took home a total of £41.5 million and Alvarez just went home with £5 million. However, some analysts think Floyd is thought to have taken home much more.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Conor McGregor – £450 million

Conor McGregor was a martial art athlete-cum-boxer from Dublin, Ireland. Floyd Mayweather was trying to push his unbeaten record to 50 fights. The match took place on August 26, 2017. While the total amount of revenue generated was not announced, analysts estimate that the fight may have netted in over £450 million from 4.3 million buys. It had lots of support in both the UK and USA. McGregor outboxedMayweather for most of the match which went on until the 10th round in a draw. It is estimated that Floyd took home about £300 million while McGregor bagged about £100 million.

Floyd Mayweather v Manny Pacquiao– £600 million

This is said to be the biggest grossing fight in boxing history. The two fighting veterans had been hinting about their fight for years. This moment came in May of 2015 at the MGM Grand. It wasbilled as the ‘Fight of the Century’ with over 2 million buys. The total revenue from the match was a whopping £600 million. Unfortunately, the match did not meet the expectations of the fans as Mayweather was defensive in much of the fight and Manny had an injury. Mayweather won this fight in a split decision. The players took home an estimated £400 million which they split at 60/40 ratio with Mayweather taking £240 million and Pacquiao bagging £180 million.

Bet on Boxing Matches at Bet365

Bet365 is one of the lead sports bookmakers on the internet. It covers the majority of the sporting activities happening around the globe.. If you are a boxing fan, enjoy your next fight as you make some cash from betting on the match. You can find the bookie here if you are interested in pacing bets on your favourite boxer.