BOXING
Takuma Inoue - Jerwin Ancajas purse money: How much will they make and how will they split it?
With a World title triple on the cards in Tokyo, you might think that there was a ton of money on the line. But it works out less than you would guess.
Big money boxing is in the upper weight divisions. Always has been. The great fighters, the truly mesmerizing ones, are often underpaid, while the plodding giants trade hammer blows on TV and pull in the money like nobody’s business.
This means that while Takuma Inoue and Jerwin Ancajas will face off in a WBA World title clash in Tokyo, it will bring in rewards that are less than a middleweight eliminator in New Jersey might see. No matter that the card is stacked with title fights, with three of the four undercard bouts for a belt of some description.
One of the most successful Philippine boxers of recent years, Ancajas held the IBF Junior Bantamweight belt for six years, defending it nine times for a total of $995,000. He could have shaded just over a million, but not much more. That is a total figure for seven years of a career that saw him dominate the division.
Takuma Inoue is the younger brother of the legendary Naoya Inoue and has lived to some extent in his shadow. As his first full title defense, Inoue is just dipping his toe into the waters of the world of big-time fighting. As such, his guaranteed purse will not be much higher than around $150,000 for this fight.
With the gate and PPV, the champion is entitled to a 75/25 split which if that ends up being the case, could see Inoue step into some big money. And maybe even Ancajas will get a decent reward for his work. It would be a stroke of justice.