Research Question
How does the distribution of earnings among professional male boxers from 2009 to 2017 reflect income inequality within the sport, and what proportion of fighters earn less than the median household income?
Researching this question is important because it addresses the critical issue of income disparities within men’s professional boxing. By examining how earnings are allocated among fighters, the study seeks to uncover underlying economic inequalities that may impact the sustainability and fairness of the sport. Understanding these dynamics prompts a reevaluation of compensation structures within the boxing industry to ensure the well-being and financial stability of lower-earning athletes. Ultimately, this fosters a more equitable and sustainable professional sports environment. This research can inform stakeholders, including sports economists, promoters, broadcasters, policymakers, and aspiring boxers, guiding decisions that promote long-term stability and fairness in the sport.
Methodology & Results
For my analysis, I used a dataset published in August 2019 by Peter Anderson, which includes purse information provided by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC). The CSAC provided data on men’s professional boxing bouts from 2009 to 2017, encompassing an unbalanced panel of 1,212 boxers and 4,670 bouts.
My first visualization is a horizontal bar graph to allow viewers to quickly view the 15 highest-paid fighters from 2009 to 2017, detailing their total earnings, average earnings, and the number of bouts they had. This graph highlights the immense drop-off in total earnings even among the top 15 fighters. For instance, Gennady Golovkin’s average earnings (the 15th highest-earning fighter) were only 5% of Floyd Mayweather’s average earnings (the 1st highest-earning fighter) and 21% of Manny Pacquiao’s earnings (the 2nd highest-earning fighter).
To further explore fighter earnings, I created two scatter plot visualizations. The first scatter plot shows the real purse for each fighter (adjusted to 2017 values) for every bout they had from 2009 to 2017. This plot highlights how the dataset is dominated by outliers and reveals a clear disparity in purse distribution. An astounding 86% of all earnings were accumulated by the top 15 fighters, with Floyd Mayweather alone capturing 49% of the total earnings. Given the significant skew from outliers, I also created a logarithmic scatter plot to allow the viewer to visualize how many purses were above and below the median household income. The logarithmic scatter plot shows that the majority of purses fall below the median household income, with 92% of all purses lower than this benchmark.
Additionally, I created fighter profiles that allow users to view individual characteristics of each fighter. These profiles highlight the fighter’s number of bouts, total earnings, number of Pay-Per-View bouts, and number of purses higher than the median household income. This feature enriches the overall analysis by contextualizing individual fighters within the broader landscape of professional boxing.
Future Directions for the Project
In the future, this project could be expanded to include a broader range of data and incorporate recent developments in the boxing industry, particularly the rise of influencer boxing. Immediate next steps would involve updating the dataset to include earnings and bout information through 2023, capturing the impact of high-profile influencer matches. Additionally, it would be valuable to analyze the earnings of female boxers, especially in light of historic events such as Amanda Serrano’s million-dollar purse for her fight against Katie Taylor on April 30, 2022, promoted by Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions.
More complex steps would involve developing a comparative analysis between traditional professional boxers and influencer boxers, examining how the influx of influencers has altered earning dynamics and public interest in the sport. Improvements could also include incorporating social media metrics and audience engagement data to understand the broader economic impact of these fights. Expanding the scope to include a global perspective, examining how earnings vary across different countries and boxing organizations, would provide a more comprehensive view of income inequality within the sport.
