Boxing never stops and Matchroom Boxing is hosting a solid fight card in Sheffield. Dalton Smith will clash with Jose Zepeda to decide the next WBC International Super Lightweight Champion. Here is everything we know about the Smith vs Zepeda purse.
Boxing Fighter Pay: What Will Smith vs Zepeda Be Paid?
Before we talk about the business side of things, let’s take a closer look at the two fighters. This is a very curious bout between two fighters with different achievements.
Dalton Smith is an undefeated fighter from Great Britain, holding a professional record of 15-0-0. He is 27 years old and has been boxing since he was 6 under the influence of his father who is a coach. Dalton made his debut in professional boxing in 2019 but frankly speaking, the first 4 victories can be ignored, they were against fighters who enter the ring, as they say, to bring food to the table.
Dalton has an excellent reaction speed, allowing him to anticipate and dodge most of his opponent’s accentuated blows. He is a master at finding a gap in the enemy’s defense, which allows him to deliver the decisive blow, or at least unconditionally win the round on points. He won 12 of his 15 fights via knockout.
When it comes to the Smith vs Zepeda purse, we believe that Smith will earn his biggest salary to date but the sum will nonetheless be incomparable to the payout for Zepeda. There is limited information regarding Smith’s past earnings but there are indications that he earns between $200-300,000 per match. We expect his purse to be on the higher end here.
When it comes to his opponent, Jose Zepeda, he has to earn more, right? He fought for the WBO lightweight world title in 2015 and twice for the WBC light welterweight world title in 2019 and 2022. He has faced some of the greatest boxers of this generation and lost only four times in 42 fights (3 times in title fights).
Jose has good cardio, footwork and an understanding of what to do in the ring. But, unfortunately, he quickly squanders mentally, which is why he never became a world champion. It is fair to say that he is better than the majority of the boxers but just not good enough to become the best.
Despite his impressive record and him being a well-known name in the sport, there is limited information about Zepeda’s past earnings. The only confirmed purse from recent years was from his WBC title match against Regis Prograis in 2022. Back then, Zepeda earned a flat salary of $1.08 million, which we believe is the most he has ever earned from a fight.
There is no world title on the line but we expect him to get the bigger percentage of the Zepeda vs Smith purse. A 60/40 in his favor seems like a logical guess. Combined with the additional bonuses and royalties, he is likely to earn more than a mil for this one bout, especially if he wins it.
Vlad is a former amateur MMA fighter. After a series of injuries, he found a different way to connect with the sport and its fanbase - through writing. He's been covering everything-UFC for over 5 years on various platforms and has been part of the team at NYFights since early 2022.
