What a boxing card we have this weekend – a World Championship Triple Header, which means that there will be three title bouts in total. While it is clear that nobody will come out rich from this event, we believe that the Inoue vs Ancajas purse is worth talking about. Here is what we know.
Boxing Fighter Pay: What Will Inoue vs Ancajas Be Paid This Weekend?
While the WBA once again remained silent about the exact purses for this bout, we can make an adequate prediction based on the previous earnings of the two fighters. Unfortunately, since the lower weight classes rarely become the subject of huge interest, talented fighters like Inoue and Ancajas remain underpaid.
Jerwin Anjacas Career Earnings
Jerwin Anjacas is one of the most successful Philippino boxers of our time, having held the IBF junior bantamweight title for nearly six years. During that period, he made nine defenses before losing to Fernando Martinez in February 2022.
We found little data on his last few bouts but we did the maths based on his earlier bouts and the latest trends in boxing. Beginning from the start, we can go back to his fight against Jose Alfredo Rodriguez, his first title defense in 2017. Back then, he earned a guaranteed purse of $40,000. Sounds like pocket money for a champion in modern days but that’s how it was back then.
Reports indicate that he was paid at least $60,000 for his second title defense against Teiru Kinoshita in July 2017. Next up, we found reports that he earned $80,000 for his fight against Jamie Conlan later in 2017. What followed was a $95,000 purse against Israel Gonzalez.
Fast-forward a few months and we reach his first 6-figure contract for his 5th title defense against Jonas Sultan. According to multiple reports, Anjacas must have earned at least $120,000 as a guaranteed purse.
This is where all the credible sources ran dry. We found nothing on his last seven bouts but knowing that six of them were title matches, we believe that Anjacas was earning more than $100k for each one. Since this will be a clash for the WBA World Bantamweight Title, we expect him to earn about this much again. He is not the champion, so he is entitled to a smaller cut from the Inoue vs Ancajas purse.
Takuma Inoue Career Earnings
Everyone knows about Naoya Inoue, the legendary Japanese boxer who unified the four super-bantamweight belts in late December. Well, Takuma Inoue is his younger brother and he is yet to leave a significant mark in boxing history.
Takuma Inoue won his first world championship when he defeated Liborio Solis for the WBA Bantamweight title in April 2023. Now, he has to prove that he deserves that belt by beating a former champion.
The problem with Takuma Inoue is that he is not as well-known as his opponent and information about his career earnings does not exist. We simply know that Ancajas would not agree to fight unless he was promised what he deserved, so we definitely believe that Inoue will have to get paid more than $150,000 for this match.
He is the champion and he is entitled to the bigger cut. Moreover, we have often seen WBA title matches with a purse divided at 75/25 in favor of the champion. Unless the promoters reached a different agreement, then Inoue may get paid BIG this Saturday.
All in all, this will not be a bad weekend for the top fighters on this card but the numbers remain on the low end when you compare the Inoue vs Takuma purse with the average contract for a world championship match in the higher weight classes. Even Alejandro Santiago and Junto Nakatani from this same card are predicted to earn more on Saturday.
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.
