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Friday, January 2, 2026

The Highest-Paid Professional Boxers in the World

  • Jake Paul has earned over $100 million since turning pro in 2020.
  • Oleksander Usyk was the highest-earning active boxer as of early 2025.
Canelo Alvarez
Joe Camporeale/USA TODAY Sports

Boxing has been a sport that captivates worldwide attention during its biggest fights. Boxers also get a chance to cash in from the huge spotlight cast on them in the ring. Oleksandr Usyk tops the list of highest-paid active pro boxers in 2025. 

The Ukrainian-born heavyweight has held the unified heavyweight championship belt since 2021 and defeated Tyson Fury in back-to-back matches in 2024 to help send Fury into retirement in early 2025.

Though Fury made more in 2024 due in large part to those fights, Usyk earned $120 million over the past year to put him top among active boxers after Fury’s retirement.

Usyk is a perfect 23-0 in his professional boxing career with 14 victories by knockout.

Second on the list is super middleweight Canelo Alvarez. Canelo has amassed over $200 million in his career, including $65 million last year.

He’s arguably the biggest star in boxing today and draws huge crowds when he comes to town.

Third is British superstar Anthony Joshua, who earned $50 million last year. Joshua’s 2024 campaign was cut short due to an elbow surgery, and he’s currently plotting his return to the ring at some point in 2025.

Fourth is YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul. Paul earned at least $40 million in his late 2024 bout against Mike Tyson, despite streaming issues

Although he’s earned tons of money through his other businesses and social media, Paul has quickly become one of boxing’s biggest earners. 

Rounding out the top five Naoya Inoue, who’s held championships across multiple weight classes in his career. He most recently defeated Ramon Cardenas by TKO in May 2025 to retain his bantamweight world championship belts.

Ranking The Highest-Earning Professional Boxers

Here is the entire list of the highest-earning active boxers of 2025. The list is compiled with data from Sportico.

  • Updated: May 30, 2025
RankFighterWeight ClassCareer Record2024 Compensation
1Oleksander UsykHeavyweight23-0$122 million
2Canelo AlvarezSuper Middleweight63-2-2$73 million
3Anthony JoshuaHeavyweight28-4$60 million
4Jake PaulCruiserweight11-1$48 million
5Naoya InoueBantamweight30-0$42 million

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