Nearly every top athlete in every sport is paid handsomely for reaching the top. However, when it comes to boxing, the prize money that top fighters take home after every bout is pretty astonishing. Fighters can net millions of dollars for a single fight because boxing is an international sport, and viewers from around the world often tune in to watch championship bouts. So, join us for an exclusive glimpse at the most wealthy boxers in the sport and where they rank. Can you guess who's the wealthiest one?
Shannon Briggs - $10 Million
Shannon Briggs is an American boxer who's fought some of the best in the business throughout his long career. He and George Foreman fought for a belt in 1997, with Briggs taking the fight by decision. Along with boxing, Briggs has also appeared in a couple of different Hollywood movies, which no doubt added to his net worth of $10 million. Reportedly, Briggs began boxing when he was 17 years old.
In the boxing world, 17 is a bit old to start boxing, but it seems to have paid off for Briggs, who's gone on to become one of the wealthiest fighters in the world.
Sergio Martinez - $10 Million
Sergio Martinez hails from Argentina and unlike a lot of boxers on this list, he actually didn't get his start in the ring. Martinez was a gifted athlete and actually started out playing soccer and cycling before he decided to put his skills to use in boxing. Multiple sports outlets, including Sports Illustrated, once ranked Martinez as one of the best boxers in the world. He fought during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
However, he also made a couple of championship runs during the late 2000s and managed to capture a WBC title in the super welterweight division, along with some middleweight titles a couple of years later.
Regilio Tuur - $10 Million
Regilio Tuur is probably one of the most famous boxers to come out of the Netherlands. He also had a pretty impressive record, taking on 51 fights and only losing 4 of them. During those fights, he had an impressive 30 knockouts, and his heavy hands came in handy during the 1998 Olympics held in Seoul, South Korea. During the games, he knocked out the man who, at the time, was the world champion.
And that was before he made the switch from amateur to professional. It didn't take him long to capture the WBO super featherweight belt after he made the switch.
Laila Ali - $10 Million
Laila Ali is one of the only female boxers on this list, and her name might sound a bit familiar to you even if you don't watch boxing. That's because she's the daughter of Muhammid Ali, probably the greatest boxer of all time. Not only that, but she had a successful television career after she retired from boxing. When she was in the ring, she was extremely dangerous and one of the best female boxers of all time.
By the time she retired, she'd captured every belt she could, and she was undefeated in the ring. Today, she devotes most of her time to supporting charities and NGOs.
Julio César Chávez - $10 Million
The country of Mexico has produced plenty of great fighters, but Julio César Chávez is considered by many to be the best of all time. ESPN has also ranked him among the best 50 fighters to ever step into the ring. During his career, he managed to capture championship belts from three different weight divisions, proving that he could dominate just about anywhere he went. Some considered his prime to be during the early 1990s, but he fought for over 20 years.
Among his long list of accomplishments is the fact that he went 90 matches in a row without ever being beaten, which ranks as the second-longest streak in history.
Joshua Clottey - $10 Million
Joshua Clottey was a fighter out of Ghana who rose up through the ranks to take on some of the biggest superstars in the sport, including Manny Pacquiao. He won 41 of his bouts and lost 5 of his matches, although he's never been knocked out. He first rose to fame after competing in the Commonwealth Games back in 1994, but it took him more than a decade to capture a belt.
Clottey earned a reputation for being an extremely tough fighter because of his strong chin and fundamentals. He's fought in three different weight classes throughout his long career as a professional boxer.
Joe Calzaghe - $10 Million
Joe Calzaghe is a boxer who hails from Wales in the U.K. He has one of the most impressive records ever recorded in boxing and retired without ever losing a fight. Not only that, but he also has the distinction of being the longest-running super middleweight champ ever, with nobody able to beat him during his 10 years as world champion. By the time he'd retired, he'd racked up some 46 wins.
During the final years of his career, he set out to prove he was still the best and racked up wins against the best boxers in his division at the time, despite his age.
Frank Bruno - $10 Million
Frank Bruno is considered one of the toughest fighters of all time, and his fights with the likes of Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis prove it. While he lost both his fights against Tyson, he still had an impressive career that saw him capture a world championship title after four different attempts. He also had a pretty insane knockout rate, with 95% of his wins coming via knockouts against his opponents.
That equaled out to about 38 knockouts in 40 fights. One of the few people he wasn't able to knockout was Tyson, who later went on to commend his punching power after their fights.
Andy Ruiz Jr. - $10 Million
Andy Ruiz Jr. is another great boxer out of Mexico. In fact, he became the only Mexican boxer to capture a heavyweight title when he beat Anthony Joshua in 2019. He's since been largely sidelined due to a shoulder injury. Another fight with Joshua later in the same year led to Joshua's victory. However, Ruiz took home massive purses for each of the bouts and Saudi Arabia reportedly paid some $40 million just for rights to host the fight.
Today, it's estimated that Ruiz is worth around $10 million, but that figure could rise as he's expressed interest in taking part in other championship bouts after he recovers from his injury.
David Diaz - $15 Million
David Diaz is an American boxer who famously went 26 bouts before finally being defeated by Kendall Holt. His career spanned the late 1990s and into the 2000s, which is when he managed to win the WBO lightweight belt. He also represented the U.S. during the 1996 Olympics held in Atlanta, Georgia. By the time he retired, he'd won 36 of his fights and only lost 4, with 1 draw.
Since retiring, he's shifted his focus to helping support kids in Chicago. He also serves as a mentor and has been honored by the city on multiple occasions.
James Buster Douglas - $15 Million
It's hard to imagine a more iconic boxing victory than the one Buster Douglas had over Mike Tyson in 1990. During that time, Tyson was still considered by many to be unbeatable, so Douglas's victory shocked everyone. After his victory, Douglas went on to fight another legend in Evander Holyfield. However, Holyfield would prove to be too much and win the fight. Still, the payout provided Douglas with enough money to retire from boxing.
When Douglas and Tyson fought, Tyson was a 42 to 1 favorite. Today, Douglas spends most of his time mentoring youth and has since appeared on a couple of television shows.
Antonio Margarito - $15 Million
Antonio Margarito is an American fighter with an illustrious career, but also one that included a bit of controversy. He was caught wrapping his hands with gypsum, which produced a cast-like material and was meant to harden his punches. He was suspended for around a year after that. However, he still had a pretty impressive career that saw him net some $15 million and challenge some of the biggest names in boxing.
Margarito was known for having a really strong chin and capturing a couple of welterweight titles, one of which he eventually lost to the legendary Manny Pacquiao back in 2010.
Larry Holmes - $18 Million
Larry Holmes is considered by many to be one of the best heavyweight fighters in history. His 1980 fight with Muhammad Ali saw him topple the sport's greatest boxer. Holmes is worth around $18 million today, but not all of that came from his boxing career, as Holmes proved to be a pretty successful businessman after he retired. He was a world champion from 1978 to 1985, during which he captured multiple belts.
After he retired, a $2.2 million fight with Mike Tyson brought him into the ring once more, but Tyson would go on to win the fight after multiple knockdowns.
Nigel Benn - $20 Million
Nigel Benn hails from the U.K. and boxed professionally for a little over a decade, earning world champion status in two different weight classes back in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He's quite famously dedicated nearly 20 years of retirement to working with different charities and helping to counsel people with addiction and marital issues. In addition to his charity work, Benn also occasionally trains boxers in his new home country of Australia.
Benn is still considered one of the best British boxers of all time and he retired with 45 wins, 5 losses, and a single draw after a loss to Steve Collins.
Juan Manuel Marquez - $20 Million
Juan Manuel Marquez hails from Mexico, and his career spanned nearly two decades. During that time, he claimed world champion status in a total of four different weight classes. Marquez started boxing from a very young age and eventually rose up through the ranks to fight some of the best in the business, including a bout with Manny Pacquiao that won him $5 million. The two went on to fight three more times.
Their fights became one of the biggest rivalries in the sport and Pacquiao took two of them by decision, with one being a draw, and the fourth and final fight going to Marquez.
Freddie Roach - $20 Million
Former boxer Freddie Roach looked as though he was about to begin a legendary boxing career before health issues forced him to retire from the sport. He boxed from the late 1970s to the early 1980s, during which he racked up 41 wins and 13 losses and earned a reputation as a brawler. However, his retirement didn't mark the end of his story and he went on to become a legendary trainer.
He's trained boxers such as Mike Tyson, Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, and Oscar de La Hoya, as well as around 50 others who've gone on to win championships. He's also trained athletes from other sports and actors preparing for roles.
David Haye - $20 Million
British boxer David Haye's career spanned from 2002 to 2018, during which he captured both the heavyweight and cruiserweight world champion titles. However, an early stop during a match in 2018 marked his retirement and the end of his career. Still, Haye is remembered today as one of the best British fighters of all time, and he ended up retiring with a record of 28 wins and only four losses.
He's probably best remembered for unifying the heavy and cruiserweight titles, a feat that has only been done by a couple of other boxers. He ended up defending his title three different times.
Carl Froch - $20 Million
Carl Froch is another successful British boxing legend. He racked up around 33 wins and only 2 losses before he retired. He held four different championship belts throughout his career, and today, he mostly works as a boxing analyst. He retired on back-to-back wins defending his championship belt. Froch is a member of the Boxing Hall of Fame, and his only two losses came by decisions, and he was only ever knocked down twice.
Both times he was knocked down, he ended up winning the fight, which earned him a reputation for being an extremely tough fighter with a lot of technical know-how.
Sonny Bill Williams - $25 Million
Sonny Bill Williams hails from New Zealand, and he's worth around $25 million dollars, partly due to a successful boxing career but also partly due to his job before that. He didn't start out as a boxer; instead, he started out as a rugby player before developing an interest in the sport and switching to boxing. Unlike a lot of other boxers on this list, he only fought six matches.
However, he won all but one of them and despite a quick retirement after that, recently expressed interest in coming back to the sport and avenging his only loss.
Miguel Cotto - $25 Million
Miguel Cotto comes from a long line of Puerto Rican fighters, but he managed to do what none of the rest did when he became the holder of four belts in four different weight classes. His career spanned from 2001 to 2017, and during that time, he fought some of the best fighters in the world, including Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. His record was 41 wins with 6 losses.
Around 33 of his wins came from knockouts, and he was known to have heavy hands. Even in the few fights he lost, he managed to make millions of dollars.
Gennady Golovkin - $30 Million
Gennady Golovkin is a legendary middleweight fighter who has an impressive record of almost 400 fights without a single knockdown. He has 42 wins and only 2 losses to his name, with both losses coming by decision. Part of the reason he's ranked as one of the wealthiest boxers in the world is the fact that he's also a pretty successful businessman and has been able to leverage his fame for brand deals.
He ended up vacating his belts in 2023, but he still fights professionally. At one point, he was considered by many as the best pound for pound fighter in the world.
Felix Trinidad - $30 Million
Felix Trinidad is a heavy-handed boxer whose career spanned nearly two decades, beginning back in 1990. Trinidad is from Puerto Rico, and he's held multiple championship titles throughout his career, as well as some wins over some pretty spectacular boxers. By the time he retired, he'd won 42 bouts and lost only 2. Perhaps one of his most famous wins was over Oscar De La Hoya during a fight in 1999.
He's since been inducted into the Hall of Fame. He started boxing when he was only eight years old, but today he's retired and lives a quiet life with his family.
Deontay Wilder - $30 Million
Deontay Wilder is probably one of the most famous fighters out there today. And that fame, coupled with his knockout power, has led to some pretty big paydays. His bouts with Tyson Fury landed him millions of dollars, despite all but one of them being losses and the first being a draw. He also netted around $20 million for a rematch fight with Luis Ortiz. He captured the heavyweight title in 2015.
Wilder has told media that he plans to keep boxing, but questions have been popping up after a couple of unexpected losses, and some question how much longer his run will continue.
Anthony Mundine - $30 Million
Anthony Mundine is another boxer with some background experience in the sport of rugby. However, his boxing career has since overshadowed his rugby career, with some 20 years of experience in the ring. During that time, he was able to win the super middleweight title a couple of times and increase his net worth to around $30 million. He's also appeared on different television shows, no doubt adding to his bank account.
Mundine's father was a pretty good boxer back in his day as well, and he helped train his son when he was younger. The younger Mundine recently retired in 2021.
Andre Berto - $30 Million
Andre Berto was a welterweight champion and ended up retiring with a record of 32 wins and 6 losses. However, he put all of that prize money to good use and has since become a real estate mogul, with investments in some of the priciest homes you can buy. Berto was born in the U.S. but he holds dual citizenship from both the U.S. and Haiti, where his parents are from.
Berto had some pretty big names in his time, including Floyd Mayeather Jr. His father also fought in one of the first UFC competitions before retiring and getting his own children interested in martial arts.
Naseem Hamed - $33 Million
Naseem Hamed's legendary career matches his net worth at $33 million. During the 1990s, he was considered a cultural icon in the U.K., where he is from. He captured a couple of different belts during his career, and in his prime, it wasn't uncommon to see him appear on commercials and late-night TV. shows both in the U.K. and in the U.S. Some even compared his popularity to that of Michael Jordan.
Today, Hamed is retired and lives in the U.K. He was 36 and 1 in the ring when he retired, but amazingly, 31 of those victories came via knockout, giving him one of the best knockout percentages in the sport.
Ricky Hatton - $40 Million
Ricky Hatton is among the long list of British fighters to make their mark on the sport of boxing. He's now worth around $40 million, much of which was made during his time accumulating 45 wins and only 3 losses during his career. He won a welterweight belt but mainly competed in light welterweight, where he captured a couple of different championships. Today he mainly works as a boxing promoter.
Some of Hatton's only defeats came to boxing legends Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, the latter of which forced him into retirement before a very brief comeback attempt.
Bernard Hopkins - $40 Million
Bernard Hopkins had what may have been one of the longest and most successful runs in boxing history. He held titles in two weight divisions, including middleweight and light heavyweight. In addition, during his light heavyweight title capture, his victory cemented him as the oldest person ever to win the title. He also didn't end up retiring until the age of 52, which is a rarity among fighters and boxers.
Hopkin's career spanned from 1988 to 2016, and today, he mainly focuses on promoting other boxers. His career included multiple championship runs in different divisions and leagues over his four decades in the sport.
Amir Khan - $40 Million
Amir Khan's career lasted from around 2005 to 2022, but in that time, he gained the distinction of being one of the highest-paid boxers in the world. Khan hails from the U.K. and has captured titles in light welterweight and lightweight divisions from multiple leagues. He's also appeared on several different T.V. shows, leveraging his boxing fame. At the time of his recent retirement, he has 34 wins and only 6 losses.
His last fight was a loss, and not long after news broke that he'd failed a drug test leading up to the fight that resulted in an investigation.
Tyson Fury - $65 Million
Tyson Fury is another boxer who has seen his fame rise in recent years. Fury is from the U.K. but his parents are from Ireland. He's become known both for his boxing style and his extravagant displays of wealth. However, with a net worth of $65 million, he can easily afford them. The accomplished boxer has a record of 34 wins, 1 draw to Deontay Wilder, and no losses.
He's held multiple heavyweight titles and has defended all of his titles, only being forced to relinquish when he took a brief break from boxing in 2016 and in 2018. He's recently said that he doesn't plan on retiring too soon and instead wants a couple of more fights against the best in the world.
Vitali Klitschko - $80 Million
You don't have to follow boxing to know the name Vitali Klitschko. Not only has his boxing success led to him being pretty recognizable around the world, but he has also gained notoriety for serving as a Ukrainian politician. Today, he's the mayor of Kyiv, but during his boxing career, he managed to win multiple championship belts, and he ended up retiring with a record of 64 wins and only 5 losses.
He entered the professional ring in 1996 and retired from it around 2013, by that point having cemented his legacy as one of the best fighters in the world.
Anthony Joshua - $80 Million
Another famous British boxer, Anthony Joshua holds a couple of different world heavyweight belts, and he's shown no signs of slowing down. His professional career started around the late 2000s, and he is today ranked in the top five heavyweight fighters by most media organizations. He's also been ranked as the most "marketable" athlete in the world, which is no surprise considering he's worth a pretty hefty sum of $80 million.
He has 30 wins and only 3 losses, with a highly anticipated fight coming up as this is written. He and Tyson Fury have also teased the possibility of future fights.
Wladimir Klitschko - $90 Million
Wladimir Klitschko is another famous Ukrainian boxer, but also one of the most decorated fighters in history. He's held multiple world heavyweight titles and unified titles across a couple of different leagues. A historic run of 22 victories was ended by Tyson Fury in 2015, but by that time, Klitshcko had already earned his place in boxing history with his superb career. He's estimated net worth is around $90 million.
He's also known for holding the distinction of being the longest-ruling heavyweight champion in history. His brother, Vitali Klitschko, was also a famed Ukrainian boxer and the two fought during roughly the same periods.
Sugar Ray Leonard - $120 Million
Sugar Ray Leonard is one of those names that should be recognizable to just about everyone, whether you follow boxing or not. Leonard was a media darling during his time and leveraged his charm and likability, along with his punching power, to increase the prize money of his fights. He was the first boxer to ever break $100 million, and he held several different titles across multiple leagues and weight classes.
When he retired, he did so with 36 wins and only 3 losses, the final two of which only came as his age began to show in the ring.
Lennox Lewis - $140 Million
Lennox Lewis fought in the ring from 1989 to 2003, during which time he stepped into the ring with the best of them. When he retired, he'd only lost 2 fights and won 41 bouts. Lewis also has victories over Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, with Lewis taking two fights with the latter by decision. Not to mention, he won a bout with Vitali Klitschko the same year he retired from the sport.
His last fight was called the "clash of titan" and Lewis had already announced his retirement by that point, meaning Klitschko would never get another rematch with the boxing legend.
Saul Alvarez - $180 Million
If you're talking strictly about boxing achievements and titles, then you have to mention the name Saul Alvarez. He was the first to win the title of the world's undisputed super middleweight. He held four belts from four different weight classes, and he's now one of the richest boxers of all time, with a net worth of $180 million. He retired with a pretty spectacular 60 wins and only 2 losses.
His only two losses were to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Dmitry Bivol nearly a decade later in 2022. He's said that he doesn't plan on retiring anytime soon despite the recent loss.
Oscar De La Hoya - $200 Million
Oscar De La Hoya is another one of those boxers who has become a household name since first entering the ring. With belts from six different weight classes and multiple championship titles, you'd think all of his money came from his bouts in the ring. However, he's proven to be a pretty adept businessman since he retired from boxing in 2008. When he did retire, he did so with 39 wins and only 6 losses.
During his long career, he fought against some of the greats, including Floyd Mayweather Jr., but most of his losses could've easily been wins. The only time he was clearly outmatched was against Manny Pacquiao.
Manny Pacquiao - $200 Million
Manny Pacquiao drew in not millions of dollars in revenue from his pay-per-view fights. Actually, he drew in around $1 billion, to be specific. However, he's also had a pretty successful career outside the ring that's included singing and time serving as a politician, among other things. He's beloved in his home country of the Philippines and is known for his work in trying to uplift local impoverished communities.
Many consider him one of the best to ever enter the ring, and he's held more titles in different weight classes than anyone else in the history of the sport.
George Foreman - $300 Million
George Foreman is one of the few boxers on this list who might be better known for his deals and businesses outside the ring. But that's not to say he wasn't an all-time great. He held the heavyweight title twice, and his career spanned decades. His most remembered fight might be the one he had with Muhammid Ali, in which Ali ended up coming away with a victory in 1973.
Foreman would go on to fight professionally until 1997, and when he retired he was the oldest fighter to ever do so. He also regularly appears in shows and is an author.
Floyd Mayweather - $450 Million
For anyone who follows boxing, then the richest boxer in the world shouldn't really come as any surprise. Floyd Mayweather Jr. is worth an estimated $450 million and his career winnings match top athletes from different sports. He's never lost a fight and holds an astonishing 50 professional wins, including over fellow champions like Manny Pacquiao and many others on this list. Not to mention, he's had a couple of high-paying exhibition matches, including against UFC fighter Conor McGregor. For that fight alone, he made some $300 million.
Many consider him to be the best defensive fighter to ever step into the ring, which is a skill that he's put on full display for millions of people around the world.