“If you win, you win, if you lose, you still win.” Joe Pesci delivers that line to Robert De Niro in the 1980 Martin Scorsese classic “Raging Bull.” After what happened over the weekend, no one in the world can appreciate that line better than Tyson Fury.
On Saturday Fury fought Oleksandr Usyk. He lost in a split decision. In losing, Fury handed over the WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO championships to Usyk. Usyk is now the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. But cheer up, Tyson. Sure, you walked away a loser. But you walked away a loser with a $100 million (minimum) check.
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Tyson Fury fought with a contractually guaranteed $100 million minimum payday. It could be more with potential bonuses tied to pay-per-view stats. And if Fury’s promoter and Top Rank CEO Bob Arum was correct when he told the Guardian that it would be the “biggest event in boxing in decades” and “the biggest pay-per-view fight in history,” he’s making even more. Arum also told ESNews that the $100 million figure is a lowball:
“If you told Tyson Fury he’s set to make $100 million, he’d really get p___d off because he thinks, and I think he’s right, that he’s going to make a lot more. I don’t know the number, but it’s a lot more than $100 million.”
The purse split in the match between Fury and Usyk was a reported 70/30 split in the champ’s favor, and during the same interview quoted above, Arum said (before the fight had taken place) that he was hoping Fury would rake in as much as $200 million if he won and went on to defend the title against Francis Ngannou.
That obviously didn’t happen, but Fury could earn still more if he gets a rematch with Usyk. One clause that was reportedly left out of the fight contract by Fury’s side was a reverse split, 70/30 favoring Usyk, for any rematch that might occur in the event of a Usyk win. But you can likely expect a better split for Usyk if a rematch between himself and Fury does take place.
For Usyk’s part, his minimum guaranteed payout for the fight was reportedly closer to $50 million. And now, of course, he is boxing’s undisputed heavyweight champion!