During a recent episode of his podcast, Mike Tyson compared his own days in pro boxing to Ngannou’s UFC career after the issue was raised by fellow UFC champion Israel Adesanya.
desanya: “Shout out to my boy, my big brother Francis, he kicked the door down and said ‘Look, this is what’s happening. They’re paying me this much and I’m this guy.’ He put it all out there. Mike, imagine at the height of your career, you’re fighting and you’re getting paid the equivalent of $600k to fight. That would be atrocious.”
Tyson: “Listen, that’d be my training expenses. That’s my training expenses.”
Quotes via Sportskeeda
While the masses may continue to plead for increased fighter pay, Dana White isn’t likely to budge anytime soon.
“Listhen, that’d be my training expenthes. That’th my training expenthes” followed by Mike’s finger-wrist pointing gesture. You know what I am talking about.
Do only real fans know about ppv point? I thought it was more casual knowledge. To be fair to Mike though he till made more money, especially when you factor in inflation. The problem is Don King was taking most of it.
Francis doesn’t draw like Mike
True Thhhhh
Eh true Mike but your manager was charging you 500 dollars per towel so maybe you could have saved on training expenses
Francis isn’t underpaid – professional athletes are overpaid.
Francis could fight for 5 years at that pay level and be set for life.
Mike still hasnt figured out that he was getting hustled for those 600k+ camps.
Has he ever spoken about getting ripped off publicly?
Francis’s last fight was reported to be around…. 300K PPV Buys
55 Year Old Mike Tyson got a reported…. 1.6 Million PPV Buys
Different business models and different levels of superstars
That said Francis should be getting paid more but not the level of a Superstar like Mike Tyson.
If anything athletes are underpaid relative to the revenue they generate.
Francis doesn’t draw like Frank Bruno let alone Mike
Revenue doesn’t change the fact they’re still far, far overpaid. All that says is tickets, advertisement, PPV costs, etc. are far too high.
Countless guys who bounce basketballs for a living make far more than the President of the United States. Absolutely ridiculous.
I agree with that and some people need to realize being an Athlete is really a privilege that you are getting to play a sport or compete for a career.
The people at the top, IF they can demonstrate that they can move the needle, then they can earn waaaaay more than working class people and it is justified in the bottom line.
But… if you are just a fighter who does not move the needle and is not necessarily training at the highest level with the highest demands bringing in the largest crowds… then they should not be making as much as working class people like Nurses, Cops, Fireman, Doctors, Military, Utility and Construction workers etc… because they are literally adding nothing to anything and are just playing a game or sport or competing for themselves. And in a lot of cases even these athletes actually are making more than the working class people who grind every day.
Compared to jobs that save actual human lives or build up and support society… yes those athletes are massively overpaid.
I was joking.
I have no doubt Tyson was being ripped off by Don King but his real problem is that he was blowing through money like an absolute jackass. He details in his book how he made and then lost like 300 million multiple times by basically supporting a ton of freeloaders, doing an insane amount of cocaine, partying like it was last day on Earth every week, and buying stupid luxury items like tigers and shit.
I dont think prize fighters should be in the same category as ball players. You dont play fighting and theres no ball to be the main focus while getting hurt is a side product. You go in there expecting to be hurt because thats what youre expected to do to the other guy. Its hurt and/or be hurt and theres nothing else on the agenda. So i feel like those guys out there beating people up and getting beat up for the entertainment of the spectators should be well compensated. Very well compensated. The heavyweight champion of one of the biggest or at least most mainstram leagues shouldnt make so much less than the promotion itself. Id like to know what the gross bring in compared to fighter payout is over the year. I jyst want the best fighters happy fighting the best challengers who are also happy to be there able to give their best performances
Remembering the Tyson era or even Chuck liddel, then they fought it was something special, now i barely give a fuk to watch free pirate streams 
gl with getting paid, ufc went downhill