Tyson Fury and his net worth are booming with respected outlet Forbes placing ‘The Gypsy King’ on top of its rankings for combat sports stars in 2020.
Fury, named after another money-making machine in ‘Iron Mike’ Tyson, appears at number 11 on Forbes’ list of the highest-paid athletes with overall earnings of $57m (£46m). The bulk of that came from his devastating seventh-round TKO of Deontay Wilder in their highly-anticipated rematch in Las Vegas in February 2020. And no boxer or combat sports star ranks higher than the WBC heavyweight champion.
It’s thought Fury, from Manchester, England, earned $50m (£40m) of his loot on that one night as well as winning the heavyweight title for a second time – enough to make him the highest boxer on the Forbes list. He had drawn his first encounter with Wilder in Los Angeles in December 2018.
Wilder meanwhile had plenty of reason to smile despite that devastating defeat at the hands of Fury – the payday in defeat was enough to place ‘The Bronze Bomber’ at number 20 on the overall athletes list with total earnings of $46.5m. Almost all of which came from the Fury fight.
Fury vs Wilder II had the full might of ESPN and Fox behind it from a promotional perspective on broadcast and social media. It produced a record live gate for a heavyweight bought, with fans paying just under $17m to be inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena. US pay-per-view figures however were a little disappointing at between 800,000 and 850,000 buys, though it’s estimated more than 10m fans managed to watch the bout via illegal streams.
AJ and Conor McGregor best of the rest
The other marquee heavyweight right now, Fury’s fellow Briton Anthony Joshua, ranks 19 on the overall list with overall earnings of $47m (£38m). Some $11m (£9m) of which came outside the boxing ring from his many lucrative endorsement deals. Notably with the likes of Under Armour, Jaguar LandRover, Beats, British Airways and Hugo Boss).
UFC star Conor McGregor is the only other combat sports star in the top 20. He sits at number 16 with earnings of $48m. Meanwhile boxing’s Mexican megastar Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez sits at number 30 with earnings of $37m)
At the very top of the list sits all-time great tennis legend Roger Federer. He raked in a total of $106m (£86m) with an incredible $100m (£81m) of that coming from his off-court endorsements via the likes of Uniqlo, Credit Suisse and Mercedes-Benz and 10 other partners.
Soccer stars occupied positions 2 through 4 courtesy of Cristiano Ronaldo ($105m), Lionel Messi ($104m) and Neymar ($95.5m), while NBA behemoth LeBron James rounded out the top 5 with earnings of $88.2m.
Elsewhere Forbes caused a massive storm by removing ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ star Kylie Jenner from its celebrity list. It claimed the family had gone to “unusual lengths” to present its youngest member as richer than she was.
Forbes Highest-Paid Athletes of 2020
1 Roger Federer ($106m)
2 Cristiano Ronaldo ($105m)
3 Lionel Messi ($104m)
4 Neymar ($95.5m)
5 LeBron James ($88.2m)
6 Stephen Curry ($74.4m)
7 Kevin Durant ($63.9m)
8 Tiger Woods ($62.3m)
9 Kirk Cousins ($60.5m)
10 Carson Wentz ($59.1m)
Notable others
11 Tyson Fury ($57m)
16 Conor McGregor ($48m)
19 Anthony Joshua ($47m)
20 Deontay Wilder ($46.5)
30 Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez ($37m)
