Whittaker vs Arenyenka Purse: Undervalued Undercard or Boxing Bonanza?

Chris Billam-Smith and Richard Riakporhe will be the headliners at Selhurst Park on Saturday night, but the undercard pairing of Ben Whittaker and Ezra Arenyenka has also generated significant buzz in the boxing community. As the two unbeaten lightweight fighters prepare to end each other’s invincibility, let’s have a look at the Whittaker vs Arenyenka purse. 

Whittaker vs Arenyenka Purse: Selhurst Salaries Revealed?

Ben Whittaker is set to face off against fellow unbeaten lightweight star Ezra Arenyenka for the WBA Gold light heavyweight title. 

The iconic Selhurst Park, home of Premier League side Crystal Palace (also the Richmond FC stadium in Ted Lasso), in South London will host the bout.

The duo made headlines in March when Arenyenka crashed Whittaker's press conference for the Leon Willings fight. 

He hurled insults at “The Surgeon” and challenged him to a fight. They'll finally settle their score on the undercard of the highly anticipated Billam-Smith vs Riakporhe rematch, two and a half months after the incident. 

Ben Whittaker is one of the hottest names in the boxing world right now. The 27-year-old is a true showman. He has developed a massive fan following with his flamboyant fighting style and antics. The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist is also hugely popular in the States. 

The West Midlands man, however, has only seven professional fights to his name so far. Arenyenka will be the first 10-rounder he will participate in. “The Nigerian King” has dispatched all of the 12 opponents he faced inside the ring before and half of them were KOs. 

Boxing Fighter Payouts – Whittaker vs Arenyenka

This is shaping up to be quite an interesting matchup, so we expect the Whittaker vs Arenyenka purse to be considerably rewarding. 

We have estimated that the main event will be a six-figure affair, so this one should be smaller, but still have lucrative financial incentives for both fighters. 

Whittaker is on his way to become the next British boxing phenomenon, but he is not there yet. 

According to reports, he makes around $120k on average for his fights after penning a deal with Boxxer / Sky Sports in 2022. Since it will be a title fight, the Whittaker vs Arenyenka prize money should be higher than the amount both fighters are used to. 

We are thinking somewhere around the lines of a $250k purse with a 70-30 split. The Whittaker vs Arenyanka payout distribution should favor Whittaker since he is the main attraction of this fight. 

If that’s the case indeed, Whittaker will bank $175k from the fight. For Arenyanka, the paycheck should be around $85k. Not bad for a man trying to launch his boxing career besides pursuing a PhD degree! 

In terms of boxing fighter pay, Whittaker vs Arenyenka is not going to be one of the biggest fights of the year. 

That said, all the pre-fight drama makes the fight quite interesting. Arenyenka was an unknown name before his antics in the Whittaker press conference, and regardless of the result on Saturday night, he will be the biggest winner of this bout.