By Allan Fox: WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (38-0, 37 KOs) will be getting a nice purse of $1.4 million for his title defense against Bermane Stiverne (25-2-1, 21 KOs) on Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
(Photo credit: Amanda Westcott/SHOWTIME)
Stiverne will be receiving a purse of $506,250, which is a good payday for someone who hasn’t fought in 2 years. Stiverne’s last fight was in 2015.
Wilder-Stiverne will be televised on Showtime Boxing.
For world champion, Wilder’s purse might seem a little small compared to the money that IBF/WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua routinely receives for defending his title in England. Joshua is getting well and above Wilder’s purse. Joshua is a PPV fighter in the UK, and he sells out large stadiums.
Wilder hasn’t broken into the PPV market as of yet, and it’s doubtful whether he ever will in the U.S. Wilder also doesn’t fill out large stadiums like Joshua does. That’s a big difference as well.
If Wilder faces Dillian Whyte on February 3rd, he could get $4 million for that fight. That’s $2.6 million more than what he’ll be receiving for the Stiverne fight.
The difference is though, Wilder will need to come to the UK to get that money. He’s not going to be able to get a huge payday fighting Whyte if he chooses to meet him in the U.S. Fighting in the UK is risky though, as Wilder could potentially lose a questionable decision. There’s always chance that his fight could be prematurely halted like we saw in the Joshua vs. Carlos Takam fight. It puts more pressure on Wilder fighting Whyte in the UK, because he would need to be looking for a knockout to make sure the fight doesn’t go to the scorecards and to be sure that the referee doesn’t step in and stop the fight like the Joshua-Takam fight. The money is there if Wilder wants to take the risk of fighting Whyte in the UK in front of his British boxing fans, and take the chance that he’ll get a decision if the fight goes to the cards. Wilder has the power to take the judges out of the equation. That’s one thing that he has going for him.
In other purses on the card, Shawn Porter is getting $500,000 for his fight with Adrian Granados. The WBC Silver welterweight title will be up for grabs for the Porter-Granados fight. Granados is receiving a purse of $200,000.
Unbeaten light welterweight Sergei Lipinets is getting a purse of $75,000 for his fight against Akihiro Kondo. Those two are fighting for the vacant IBF light welterweight title. Kondo’s purse is $15,000.
In other heavyweight action, former heavyweight world title challenger Dominic Breazeale is getting $250,000 for his fight with 2-time former heavyweight title challenger Eric Molina. This is WBC eliminator. According to the latest news, Breazeale-Molina isn’t a final WBC title eliminator. It’s just an eliminator. Molina will be receiving $90,000 for the fight.