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How Much Money Did Mike Tyson and Jake Paul Make from Their Big Fight?
By Anne Marie Lee
Jake Paul, a former child star and social media influencer who started boxing professionally in 2020, slugged it out with former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson on Friday in a matchup that was live-streamed worldwide on Netflix. Paul won the fight by unanimous decision.
Here's what we know about how much Paul and Tyson were being paid, along with other financial aspects of an event that many consider more spectacle than sport.
How much is Mike Tyson getting paid for the fight?
Regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, 58-year-old Mike Tyson has an estimated net worth of $10 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. That is a modest sum compared with the hundreds of millions of dollars "Iron Mike," as he is known, accumulated in career earnings, including $400 million in fight purses, according to Forbes. Over the last decade, Tyson has also fought his way back after filing for bankruptcy in 2013 at the age of 37.
Though promotors did not reveal exactly how much Tyson earned for Friday's fight, reports from online sources, including DraftKings Network, estimate he'll make around $20 million.
That's about the same dollar amount Tyson earned in his match against Michael Spinks in 1988, a record purse at the time (worth roughly $53 million today adjusting for inflation). That bout lasted less than two minutes, with Tyson knocking out the previously undefeated Spinks in 91 seconds.
In 1992, Tyson was sent to prison for six years after being convicted of raping a teenage beauty-pageant contestant. He was released on parole after three and a half years, returning to boxing in 1995 in a match against Peter McNeely, who was dispatched by technical knockout in under 90 seconds.
Tyson would go on to earn $30 million for each of his next four matches, which included an infamous 1997 fight against Evander Holyfield in which Tyson bit off a piece of his opponent's right ear. Tyson was disqualified from the fight, had his boxing license revoked, and fined $3 million, but was allowed to keep the purse.
At a news conference on Wednesday, Paul wore a diamond-spiked ear cover , a pointed reference to the incident. But when it comes to making light of the ear biting, Tyson beat Paul to the punch, having launched ear-shaped marijuana edibles (with Holyfield's consent) through his company, Tyson 2.0, a premium cannabis brand he launched in 2021. The brand generated an estimated $150 million in revenue in 2023, according to Forbes Australia.
Actors Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty, musician Paul Simon, and then real estate developer (and now President-elect) Donald Trump attend the boxing match between Mike Tyson and Leon Spinks at Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, June 27, 1988 - Credit: Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
How much is Jake Paul getting paid for the fight?
Jake Paul, 27, is set to earn $40 million, according to an estimate from DraftKings Network and other sources — double what Tyson is expected to receive for the fight. A simple explanation for that may be that Paul, a top social influencer with 27 million followers on Instagram alone, is also co-founder of Most Valuable Promotions (MVP), the company promoting the extravaganza in partnership with Netflix. His net worth is estimated at $80 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
With a 10-1 fight record, mostly against mixed martial artists and other pro-boxing newcomers under his belt, Paul, a former child star and YouTube prankster who began his boxing career in 2018, does not lack confidence — or showmanship. His cocky attitude earned him his latest nickname "El Gallo de Dorado" or the Golden Rooster, coined by fans in Puerto Rico. Before that, he was called "The Problem Child," a fairly self-explanatory moniker based on the online persona he's crafted for himself over the years.
Paul, who went full Gallo at an open training session this week with Tyson at the Toyota Music Factory in Irving, Texas, donning a rooster hat and red-feathered skirt over his boxing trunks, epitomizes social media's melding of Barnumesque entertainment and sports.
In a TikTok video posted Tuesday, a shirtless Paul, slumped on a couch wearing a prosthetic belly to make himself look out of shape, places stacks of money on his protruding stomach while offering "Mikey, Mikey" an additional $5 million if the former champion can last more than four rounds with him in the ring. If he doesn't, says Paul in the video, the aging boxer will have to get a tattoo that says "I love Jake Paul."
"This is why modern boxing is a joke," commented one user on Reddit in reaction to the video. "People get more excited about freak show fights than actual boxing matches."
As reported by USA Today, "Tyson and his camp have not publicly responded to the offer."
How much is the purse for the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight?
The undisclosed purse is estimated by some to be as high as $80 million.
Originally set to take place on July 20, the event was later postponed and rescheduled for November 15 after Tyson suffered an ulcer flare-up on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles in May.
As of early Friday evening, gate receipts at AT&T Stadium brought in $17.8 million in revenue, CNBC reported . Promotor MVP told the news outlet it expects more than 70,000 people to fill the stadium, home to the Dallas Cowboys, which has a seating capacity of 80,000… - CBS News
