Tony Bellew vs Usyk fight prize money: How much will the two fighters make from cruiserweight bout?
It is the richest cruiserweight fight in history. Follow it live
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Your support makes all the difference.Tony Bellew has become one of Matchroom Boxing's most marketable fighters - and has earned enough money to keep himself and his family happy for generations. But he stands to make even more money when he takes on the most formidable opponent of his career thus far in Oleksandr Usyk.
The fight has been confirmed as the last of Bellew's career, and he is hoping to end it not only with more money in his pocket but by making history and becoming the first Brit and only the second man in history to win all four major world titles at cruiserweight, with the WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO and The Ring titles all up for grabs when the pair meet tonight in Manchester.
It's expected that Bellew will pocket a career-high payday of £4m, having earned £2.8m for the first David Haye fight and a minimum of £2.5m for the rematch - both of which he ran out winner via TKO. The Liverpudlian's net worth is expected to hit around £15m after Saturday night, a cool amount to end a career on.
£4m is quite the rise in earnings for Bellew, who in 2015 fought Mateusz Masternak for the European cruiserweight title, earning just £80,000. It's expected that Usyk will earn a similar amount to Bellew for his efforts - easily the biggest payday of his career so far.
It's not about the money for the man nicknamed the Bomber though, who simply wants to end his career testing how good he really is against arguably the best boxer in the world at any division.
"This is not about money, if I wanted to make money I could have created drama with someone like Dillian Whyte," Bellew said at the final press conference on Thursday afternoon. "The superstar [Usyk] is here, I am here and all the belts are here.
"This is a test of wills. How much do you want it mate, because I want it more than you. I don't care how much, I want it more than him. I'm just hoping I can drag this fight into a place where we have to find out who wants it most. That's what I'm hoping I can do.
"I think I can, and when I do, we're going to see what I'm really about. Am I as good as I think I am? Can I be greater than I ever thought possible? I get all the answers to the questions on Saturday night."
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