Tyson Fury claims that he only earned a little more than £600,000 for his first world title fight with Wladimir Klitschko, despite reports saying he earned millions.
The world heavyweight champion won the unified belts from Klitschko in what was at the time a major upset, but struggled with his mental health in the aftermath and had to spend three years out of the ring as a result. And despite spending massive amounts after the bout in partying and luxury cars, he claims his purse was a fraction of the multi-millions he would later earn
Fury was appearing on The MMA Hour when the topic of this weekend’s opponent; former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou’s infamous octagon purses came up. He notoriously earned just $600,000 for his first world title defence against Ciryl Gane, which headlined a pay-per-view card that sold out the KIA Forum in California.
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“To make $600k for a fight for the heavyweight championship is about what I got paid to fight Klitschko,” Fury said, denying rumors that he received up to £4 million for the match. “It’s not that low, I think to win the heavyweight championship and go on and defend it you’ve got to take on some big names and create a name and fan following.”
Fury added, “$600,000 is his biggest purse and $600,000 is a hell of a lot of money,” during the event. “But not by much, not for the world heavyweight champion. It would likely take me 452 years to try and make $600,000 in a typical nine-to-five job.
“But I think everybody else in sport knows that after winning the UFC heavyweight championship to go on and box any heavyweight in the top ten you’re probably going to make a whole lot more than $600,000 which is one point to point out.”
Both men are expected to make eight-figures for their fight on Saturday which headlines the launch of Riyadh Season in Saudi Arabia. And Fury will go on just weeks later to fight Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed world heavyweight title with his collective earnings amounting to over £100m.
Meanwhile, Ngannou has already inked a deal to come back to the cage under PFL’s banner. He will earn another seven-figure payday for that bout early next year, although his opponent has yet to be named.
