WBC heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, has reminisced about his earlier days in the ring, recalling the purse he received for his debut fight back in 2008.
Fury came from strong amateur pedigree, earning the bronze medal at the 2006 Youth AIBA’s and becoming the English National Champion in 2008. However, the six-foot-nine traveller was denied his shot at the 2008 Olympics, with the committee favouring David Price who came through the Olympic programme, despite Fury being ranked as the world number three, behind two Russians.
Fury made the switch to the pro ranks in 2008 with a degree of expectation, and his first task was Bela Gyongyosi (3-9-2), on the undercard of Carl Froch’s world title win against Jean Pascal in Nottingham.
‘The Gypsy King’ lived up to the hype with a first-round stoppage over his Hungarian counterpart and has now, in an interview with iFL TV, revealed the amount he was paid that night.
“Nine grand. I got nine grand, and I got one hundred grand signing bonus. Thirty-three grand a year for three years, and nine grand for my first one [fight], so really I got forty-two grand for my first fight, which wasn’t bad back in the day. I was a millionaire back then. I’ve probably still got that forty-two grand, you know?”
These days, Fury has developed into a global star, and is set to earn a reported $50million dollars for this weekend’s crossover clash against Francis Ngannou, over 4,500 times the nine-thousand that he received for taking on Gyongyosi.
The Cameroonian is set to earn $10million for his professional boxing debut, the second-highest purse for a debut in boxing history, behind fellow UFC star, Conor McGregor, who reportedly earned upwards of $100million for ‘The Money Fight’ against Floyd Mayweather.