Conor McGregor, Jake Paul and Tyson Fury included on 2021’s fighting rich list

Canelo Alvarez was the king of 2021’s fighting rich list with Tyson Fury, Jake Paul and Conor McGregor also featuring.

It has been a bumper year for combat sport despite the financial effects of the coronavirus pandemic both in the ring and the cage.

McGregor fought Dustin Poirier twice, losing on both occasions, while Fury successfully defended his heavyweight title belt in a trilogy bout with Deontay Wilder.

Meanwhile YouTube star Paul continued his rise in boxing with a rewarding year having defeated Ben Askren and rival Tyron Woodley twice.

Alvarez became the undisputed super-middleweight champion, while Mayweather and Logan Paul earned significant sums from their exhibition bout in June.

Here, we take a look at the top ten fighters based on their estimated financial earnings in 2021…

10. Billy Joe Saunders – £5.7million

He may have been stopped in the eighth round by Canelo Alvarez but Billy Joe Saunders earned his biggest purse to date from what is likely to be his final fight as a professional.

Saunders came into the bout with the Mexican legend undefeated and enjoyed periods of success in Texas.

But he was undone by a right uppercut which fractured the Brit’s eye socket and eventually led to his team pulling him out after the seventh round.

Little has been heard from the former middleweight world champion bu the prospect of him returning to the ring are slim.

Alvarez, meanwhile, went on to claim his final super-middleweight belt later in the year.

9. Dustin Poirier- £7.2m

Dustin Poirier has had a mixed year but has certainly been rewarded after fighting three-times for a total estimated over £7m.

The Diamond began the year by defeating McGregor on ‘Fight Island’ collecting a purse of over £3m.

His second meeting with McGregor had lift-off at UFC 264 where he won in the opening round collecting a projected £3.7m after nearly 1.6 million pay-per-view sales according to his opponent.

Lastly his title defeat to Charles Oliveira is expected to earn him another £500,000 payday, taking his total to over £5m for the year, although he is likely to have earned more from his share of pay-per-view sales.

8. Deontay Wilder- £8.2m

Deontay Wilder faced Fury in a trilogy bout which was delayed until October due to coronavirus restrictions.

However he is expected to have netted at least £8.2m from the event despite suffering defeat in what was a modern-era classic.

The American came close to winning the contest which could have landed him much more significant fights in the new year.

However he now faces a return to the ring next spring after breaking his hand but is eyeing the likes of Andy Ruiz and Joshua on his return.

He has also made several hints that he could hang up his gloves after suffering a second consecutive defeat to Fury, but many fights could be available if he opts to return.

7. Tyson Fury- £13m

Tyson Fury had a less active year fighting just once against trilogy rival Wilder whom he defeated in spectacular fashion.

The ‘Gypsy King’ is expected to have netted £13m after his share of pay-per-view sales as he retained his heavyweight world title.

Although pay-per-view sales were just under 600,000 the event was extremely popular and has been later named by many as the Fight of The Year.

He is looking to fight three-times in 2022 with one opportunity being a potentially lucrative showdown with Joshua.

However it is likely his year will now begin with a mandatory defence against Dillian Whyte which is also set to earn him another mega payday.

The WBC have ordered the champion as having an 80 per cent split of any purse against Whyte.

=5 Anthony Joshua – £15m

Despite having lost his world-title belts, Anthony Joshua earned a £15m purse for his defeat by Oleksandr Usyk.

‘AJ’ sold out a bumper crowd at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium which contributed to his purse along with pay-per-view sales despite missing out on £100m for facing domestic rival Fury.

The event was a far-cry from his whopping payout worth close to £50m for his rematch against Andy Ruiz in 2020.

He could now earn another bumper purse in 2022 as he looks for redemption against Usyk in a rematch.

If the event is staged in the Middle East as potentially touted, another mega payday could be on course for the two heavyweights.

However Usyk will earn significantly more having won the belts from Joshua last time out and will likely enter the fight as the A-side.

Who is your fighter of the year for 2021? Let us know your favourite in the comments section below

=5. Logan Paul – £15 million

Logan Paul fought in an exhibition with one of sport’s biggest stars Mayweather which earned him a guaranteed £7m.

The event did well in pay-per-view sales despite there being no official result after eight rounds – and that could more than double Paul’s earnings to £15m.

The YouTube star has hinted that the exhibition with Mayweather may have been his last venture into the ring after “living his dreams”.

However he has since teased the possibility of facing YouTube rival KSI for a third time on the advice of his brother to continue fighting.

Focus will remain on his podcast and other opportunities outside of fighting for now however.

He has also been touted to face Mike Tyson next year which would no doubt perform exceptionally and offer a sizeable payday.

4. Jake Paul – £31 million

Jake Paul has been generously rewarded for his sensational rise in boxing after taking to the ring for three fights in 2021.

The YouTube star pocketed a guaranteed £522,200 purse against Ben Askren with the pay-per-view sales likely to take the total to eight-figures.

This event began a series of YouTube boxing bouts for the star who has also called out the likes of Conor McGregor and Jorge Masvidal to crossover events.

Paul then began his rivalry with Tyron Woodley where he is expected to have made just over £10m again after pay-per-view sales.

He then scored a brutal KO in last-year’s rematch which is expected to have secured him just shy of an eight-figure payday with pay-per-view sales performing below par.

3. Conor McGregor – £36.4m

Conor McGregor had a miserable year, suffering back-to-back defeats against bitter rival Poirier.

However his superstar draw cannot be denied and he remains the UFC’s highest earner having bagged a projected £14.4 million for his second meeting with Poirier in January.

McGregor’s mind immediately turned to revenge after his defeat levelled the score between the pair at one victory apiece.

He later bagged a monstrous projected purse of £22m after the trilogy event attracted 1.6m pay-per-view sales despite McGregor breaking his leg in the opening round.

Several big fights could remain for McGregor who has been called out by the likes of Nate Diaz, Max Holloway and even Jake Paul in the boxing ring.

He has two fights remaining on his current deal with the UFC and so can expect to inflate his bank account yet again over the next 12 weeks.

2. Floyd Mayweather- £48.2m

As has often been the case in the modern era, Floyd Mayweather features high on the fighting rich-list.

The American star returned for an exhibition with YouTuber Paul that earned him an estimated £48.2 million after pay-per-view sales.

Throughout his undefeated career in the sport Mayweather has been famous for his huge pay-per-view draw and his mega paydays landing him a significant earning of over $1billion during his career.

This includes a bumper payday against two of sport’s biggest names in Manny Pacquiao and UFC star McGregor in a 2017 crossover bout.

Despite no result being given, Mayweather gave credit to his opponent for surviving the distance as he topped up his retirement fund.

The American may not return to the ring but he has certainly made his latest exhibition worth his while.

1. Canelo Alvarez – £65.7 million

The Mexican pound-for-pound king is this year’s biggest profit maker after three fights in 2021.

Canelo Alvarez guaranteed himself £10m for his routine mandatory defence against Avni Yildirim at the start of the year.

He later unified the super-middleweight division by beating Billy Joe Saunders, earning himself around £25m for the sold-out show in Texas.

Alvarez made history by becoming undisputed-champion in November beating Caleb Plant while adding another huge £29.6 million to his boxing kitty.

Several options now await the sport’s biggest star including a switch to cruiserweight to challenge Ilunga Makabu for the WBC title.

*Other notable earners include Oleksandr Usyk (£5m), Terence Crawford (£4.4m) and Kamaru Usman (£1.6m + his share of pay-per-view).