Pay and Race in World Championship Boxing

What does race have to do with it? Nothing, really, when it comes to the purses professional boxers receive in world title bouts. The contracted purses for 32 world title bouts were analyzed using a multivariate regression model with the boxer's purse as the dependent variable and five explanatory variables (winning percentage at time of bout, career knockout percentage, white/non-white, champion/non-champion and Olympic Gold Medalist/non-Gold Medalist). Race proved to be a non-issue in the study, as only career knockout percentage, status as reigning champion and possession of an Olympic Gold Medal proved to have a statistically-significant impact on boxers’ purses in world title bouts.