Saturday is a huge boxing day in Las Vegas with two major cards: the Top Rank/HBO tripleheader at the Cosmopolitan and the Golden Boy/Showtime quadrupleheader at the MGM Grand.
Each card is stacked with name fighters and some nice matchups, but let’s take a look at how the fighters are making out based on contracts filed with the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
The big purse winner is former welterweight titlist Timothy Bradley Jr., who is making more than double anyone else on either card -- $2 million -- for his HBO headliner.
Opponent Diego Chaves’ official purse is a mere $35,000. But don’t cry for the Argentine. This is undoubtedly a paperwork thing. He almost certainly is making much, much more than that through fancy accounting and television revenue in Argentina.
Also on the Cosmopolitan card, Andy Lee will earn $69,000 to challenge for a vacant middleweight belt against Matt Korobov, who is getting $160,000. In the opener on that broadcast, interim junior welterweight titlist Mauricio Herrera will get $200,000, a far cry from the supposed $500,000 he was offered to face former titlist Ruslan Provodnikov in Russia a couple of weeks ago. Challenger Jose Benavidez Jr. will make $90,000.
Over at the MGM Grand, Amir Khan will make $950,000 and Devon Alexander $600,000 for their welterweight main event, which is not for a world title but is in essence an eliminator for a possible shot at pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Interim welterweight titlist Keith Thurman’s purse is $500,000, a nice payday but nowhere near what he was offered in a three-fight deal by Roc Nation Sports: $2 million per fight. Opponent Leonard Bundu will make $85,000.
Featherweight Abner Mares will earn $250,000 for his fight against Jose Ramirez, who is getting only $15,000. In the opener, junior middleweight Jermall Charlo will get $50,000. Opponent Lenny Bottai is getting $40,000.