Article Image

IPFS News Link • Entertainment: Sports

Floyd Mayweather’s $32 million is record haul

• http://www.bostonherald.com, By Ron Borges
 One can debate all night long whether Floyd Mayweather Jr. is what he insists he is — which is the greatest fighter of all-time — but one thing can no longer be debated. As of last night, he is the best-paid boxer of all-time, at least on a one-fight basis.

Mayweather’s $32 million guarantee was not only the largest in the history of Nevada boxing but also the highest in the sport’s history, topping the $30 million Mike Tyson was guaranteed for his ear-chomping rematch with Evander Holyfield in 1997. That night Holyfield had an $11 million guarantee himself, which means that fight’s combined purses remain the highest guarantee for one match in the sport’s history because Mayweather’s opponent, WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto, received only an $8 million guaranteed, according to bout agreements filed with the Nevada State Athletic Commission. That left the bout total last night at $40 million, $1 million short of Tyson-Holyfield II.

To a guy who calls himself “Money” and who is surrounded by an entourage he calls “The Money Team” his opponent’s purse is of little consequence but that $8 million represents two sides of the boxing coin of the realm. On the one hand, it is Cotto’s largest guarantee and surely will be his biggest overall payday once all the overage from PPV sales is added.