Saudi Arabia pays good money for boxing and this is why many boxers agree to fight there even if it means facing a less significant opponent. But in no way is this fight insignificant, this is the future of boxing. Here is everything we know about the Ford vs Ball purse.
Ford vs Ball Purse: Who's Getting Paid Big in Riyadh?
While boxing events in Riyadh typically involve a lot of money, Ford and Ball are unlikely that much more than their usual purses. There will be a certain increase on both ends, especially after their recent performances and achievements. But nothing to be too excited about as a fan.
There are several reasons for the small Ford vs Ball purse. Firstly, this is the featherweight division, one of the lightest weight classes in modern boxing. Unfortunately, fighters in the lower classes do not make a lot of money, regardless of their status and experience. With some exceptions (Naoya Inoue), of course.
Another reason – both Ford and Ball are young and fairly new names in boxing. Both are undefeated but Ford is 25 and Ball is 27. They are part of the elite group of the biggest prospects in boxing but they still lack the achievements to get paid big.
This is the type of fight that will help them grow in popularity, regardless of the outcome. But for now, the Ford vs Ball purse will not be monumental.
When it comes to their past earnings, the data remains limited to their most recent fights. After all, both Ford and Ball fought for a world title for the first time in March.
Raymond Ford faced Otabek Kholmatov in New York but the fight was originally scheduled for Riyadh. It fell apart due to Tyson Fury's injury, which played a huge role in the final payouts. Ford ended up getting $158,750 for this fight when he could have earned a lot more.
In return, we predicted that Nick Ball would earn at least $300,000 from his title match against Ray Vargas in March. While there has been no confirmation about the final earnings, we believe that this amount made as much sense then as it makes now.
We also assume that he will make even more from the Ford vs Ball purse. The champion is guaranteed the bigger cut from the purse and we expect at least a 60/40 in his favor. Overall, we predict at least $600,000 for Raymond Ford and at least $400,000 for Nick Ball.
Unfortunately, Ball's unfortunate experience against Vargas prevented this fight from being massive. Ford had already expressed his interest in fighting Ball in a unification bout but Nick got robbed of the win.
Even Eddie Hearn commented on this potential fight back then, claiming that Ford would probably earn a 7-figure sum in a unification bout. Unfortunately, he will have to wait some more.
