The 4 Richest Boxers Of 2015

1. Oscar De La Hoya – $200 million 

Oscar De La Hoya‘s fight record is 39 (30KO)-6-0 and he bought home gold in the 1992 Olympic Games. He is best known for defeating 17 world champions in six different weight classes including Julio Cesar Chavez.

De La Hoya is also a huge box-office spinner as he has generated more revenue than any other boxer in history and his fights have been estimated at a $700 million pay-per-view income. He founded Golden Boy promotions which made him the first American of hispanic descent to own a national boxing promotional firm; his partners are Bernard Hopkins, Winky Wright and Ricky Hatton.

He released his first album, Oscar, in 2000 and it topped the Latin dance charts and he was nominated for a Grammy Award for his single ‘Ven a Mi’. In the same year his personal life was bought to the attention of the press after former Miss USA Shanna Moakler filed a $62 million palimony suit against him for support of their daughter, Atiana Cecelia. The case was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.

2. George Foreman – $250 million 

George Foreman retired in 1997 aged 48-years-old; he is the former two-time World Heavyweight Champion and the 1968 Olympic gold medalist. His fight record stood at 76 (68KO)-5-0 and he features in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. In 1974 he lost his title after he was knocked out by Muhammad Ali during the famous “Rumble In The Jungle” fight; he said; “It just wasn’t my night”.

He grew up in Marshall, Texas and has now become a successful entrepreneur outside of the ring when he sold the rights to his George Foreman grill (which had already sold over 100 million units worldwide) to manufacturing giant Salton for $138 million. Foreman has said before that the money from his spin-off products have earned him more than his boxing career.

Foreman has five sons named George Jr., George III (“Monk”), George IV (“Big Wheel”), George V (“Red”), and George VI (“Little Joey”). He also has seven daughters.

3. Manny Pacquiao – $265 million

Manny Pacquiao is a Filipino professional boxer and his current fight record is 57 (38KO)-6-2. He is the only boxer who has won a title in seven different weight classes and many would say that he is the greatest boxer in the world right until  his losses in 2012.

He started boxing aged 14-years-old when he was living on the streets in Manila, Philippines and he has an amateur record of 60-4. When he was 16-years-old he was ready for his first professional fight and he stood at stood at 4’11” and weighed 98 pounds. He had to put weights in his pocket to bring him up to the 105-pound minimum weight.

His last fight was against Floyd Mayweather at the MGM Grand May 2nd 2015; the fight took many years of negotiations and agreements. Pacquiao lost the fight by unanimous decision and said in his own defence that he was suffering from a shoulder injury throughout the fight, he claimed:

“THIS FIGHT DOESN’T BOTHER ME TOO MUCH, I DID MY BEST. I HURT MY SHOULDER, BUT I DIDN’T COMPLAIN OR SAY I WAS INJURED. THIS IS PART OF THE GAME. I DIDN’T WANT TO MAKE ANY EXCUSES”.

4. Floyd Mayweather – $415 million 

Floyd Mayweather is the undefeated champion of the world (his fight record is 48 (26KO)-0-0) and also the highest paid athlete on the planet as his current estimated worth is at a staggering $415 million. When he fought Manny Pacquiao in May 2015 the box-office sold 4.4 million views.

With this much money in the bank you would think he is 100% secure financially, however The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is owed $6.1 million in back taxes and he was also sued for $1.7 million when he backed out of a real estate purchase that was worth $8.5 million. Then in 2009 he was sued for failing to make a payment on his Mercedes Mayback 57S and he had to borrow $415,000 to pay for the car after he reportedly hadn’t made any payments in over a year. He also took a tough blow when over $7 million worth of jewellery was stolen from his own home.

His latest huge financial blow when he was sued for $20 million by the mother of his three children – Josie Harris. Mayweather gave an interview with Katie Couric the month before his fight with Pacquiao; he called Harris a drug abuser when he was discussing the two months he spent in jail for domestic-violence after an incident in 2010.