Making a living in the boxing industry—is tough. The competitive nature of the sport—will require you to work harder than most other boxers. Likewise, you must also have a solid team helping you, consisting of a coach and other job holders who will help you close off better deals and better fights.
Making an excellent living with boxing—is challenging because you have to be in the top 20% of boxers to make good money. To do so, you must work harder than 80% of boxers, which is tougher than what you may think. Likewise, to make more money, you must perform at your peak in every boxing match, which is tricky.
Your popularity and the demand your fights have—will determine how much money you make per fight. If, for example, more people want to see you fight, you’ll also make more money in that particular fight.
As such, you must get your name out there in every way possible. Most boxers pay for a social media manager, to spread the word about you to the public. But, you’ll need to pay all your staff with the income you make from your own money.
So, what you make—isn’t what you keep. Most professional coaches will also cost more than you think. As a result, to ensure you make a living with fighting, you must ensure to perform at your peak in every fight.
But, the other boxer wants what you want. Now you understand why the competitive nature of boxing—is as large as it is. You have to want to win more than everything else. Only then will you be able to win more fights and train harder to hone your skills.
Before we dive in, if you want to know which are the 15 best boxers in history, follow the link to an article of mine breaking down the list. Knowing who they are—will help you learn from the best.
Is boxing a good way to make money?
Making money in competitive industries—is always a hard task. The hard part is working harder than most people who have the same goal as you. If you do so, you’ll be better than most folks. As a result, you’ll also make more money, as you’ll win more fights and get more popular.
Boxing can be a good way to make money if you’re in the top 10% of boxers, who can make millions of dollars annually. To do that, you must also be more popular and skillful than 90% of boxers. As such, you’d have to train extremely hard, harder than most boxers, to become better than most of them.
For the most part, however, being a professional boxer—won’t make you a good living if you’re not aiming for the elite levels. For every boxer that does make it, hundreds don’t. So, you must aim to be the best.
If your purpose is to make as much money as possible, I doubt you’ll reach the top levels. You must have something that drives you, a passion. For instance, many professional boxers want to reach the elite levels, so they can influence more and more individuals to learn martial arts.
These people will inevitably have more drive and motivation than those who simply want to make a quick buck. They’ll train more often, as they’ll have a reason to wake up in the morning. Thus, having a purpose—is vital if you’re trying to make an excellent living from boxing.
How to increase your income in boxing
While there are numerous ways to increase your income as a boxer, there’s one guideline you should follow; to become more popular. If you manage to do that, you’ll have a much easier time attaining all the other ways, resulting in an overall higher income.
To increase your boxing income, you must become more popular. To do so, you need to win fights against already recognized names in the industry. As a result, you have to train harder than most other boxers, so you can become the best. If you win more fights, you’ll become more popular and make more money per fight.
Making more money per fight, contrary to what most people think, isn’t the only way to increasing your income as a boxer. In fact, there are numerous other ways, such as sponsorship deals, being in ads, and making other types of deals.
However, these are all dependent on your popularity. The more popular you are, the more you can make with these sorts of deals. Likewise, you’ll make more money per fight. As such, you may understand that the growth you’ll see in your income won’t be linear.
Once you reach a certain point, you’ll find it much easier to close-off such deals. For instance, watch this ad that Conor McGregor did.
While I don’t know how much money he made from this advertisement deal; what I can tell you, though, is that he made more than the average annual salary for professional boxers, just with this one deal.
How much money do boxers make in their early career?
Most boxers’ early careers—don’t include as much money as most people think. Rocky Marciano, for instance, only made $35 from his first fight. Also, Joe Louis made $59, which is much higher. On a serious note, some boxers don’t make anything when they first begin their career. Let’s see how much.
In the earlier career of boxers, they make, on average, $1,000 per fight. However, this number can range anywhere from $50 to $10,000 per fight. Also, if you frequently fight, you’re not as likely to make excellent money, such as the $500M Floyd Mayweather Jr. made from his fight against Conor McGregor.
I know many professional boxers who would do anything to get $1,000 pay for the first fight. Many fighters don’t get nearly as much. Rather, they make closer to $200 for their first fight.
Nonetheless, once they progress and get more experience and popularity, it’s much easier to close-off deals that will bring a much higher income than that. I don’t want to give examples from elite boxers that make millions per fight, as it won’t help you understand the reality.
Instead, a more reality view of the world of boxers—is up to $15,000 per fight, early in their career. Such pay is reserved for those who have been competing and beating well-known boxers in the industry. As such, the demand to watch their fight—is higher.
Is boxing a good career?
When you get into a career, you ought to be looking for various aspects; most people, for instance, look for stability. Boxing, however, isn’t stable at all, as you have to constantly push your mental and physical selves. That’s the only way you’ll get better and thus more popular.
Boxing isn’t a good career because it’s extremely competitive. As a result, you’re not likely to make exquisite money, as only the top 1% make millions of dollars annually. Of course, if you’re in the top 10%, you’ll make an exceptional income. But, you’ll likely be in the bottom 80%, who don’t make as much.
Stability is one of the most desirable traits in a career people look for. As a result, getting into an industry, which does not guarantee any progress whatsoever—is harder than what you may think.
As such, most people won’t get into boxing, especially if they experience financial stress. Hence, they’ll see for a stable path, to ensure they can’t experience any financial issues in the long-term.
So, boxing isn’t a good career, especially if you’re looking for stability.
How hard it is to make a living with boxing
Boxing is one of the most competitive industries worldwide. Many people wish to be a part of the best. However, few are willing to sacrifice enough to reach such points. To become a top 1% boxer, you must work harder than all other 99%.
Making a living with boxing—is difficult because it requires you to be in the top 10% of boxers worldwide. That will require you to train harder than 90% of boxers while performing well in the boxing matches themselves. The boxing industry is competitive and will be difficult to make exceptional income in.
It’s fascinating to see the hordes of people wanting to have such a job title. Nevertheless, few are willing to sacrifice the required amount. These few boxers are also those that make a superb living out of boxing. If you want to be a part of them, you must also work as hard as them.
If you want to learn about the step-by-step guide to perfecting your punching technique, follow the link to an article of mine explaining how you can do so.
Final words
To end this article, I want to emphasize the competitive nature of boxing. Honestly, few are the pros who actually make a higher than average annual salary. These are the most popular boxers, who can close off the best deals and fights.
The truth is, boxing is one of the most dangerous career paths out there. However, those who make it will make enough money for the following generations. Just look at Mike Tyson or Floyd Mayweather Jr. when you want to see how much money you can make.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you’ll also enjoy reading about the best boxing shoes for your money. Pairing yourself with such an item—will immediately boost your boxing skills.