BoxRec

How much do boxers actually care about it ? Isn't it sweet as hell for them to get paid well for the easiest opponent they can get? Just made me think when I saw Berterbiev was to get like 1.5m to fight Fan Menlong, and fans said he should skip over fights like that and instead face better opponents. But do boxers actually give a f@ck about what their resume looks like when they get paid that well for easy work?

Is legacy just something fans mainly care about?

I would imagine just like everyone else it varies from fighter to fighter, and probably changes throughout their careers.

Legacy does not pay the bills or secure retirement.
I'd think money is every athletes top priority

Agree with that, if you are a professional athlete, you have to consider the financial implications of fights.

However, I think if want respect/legacy sometimes - like in any profession - you might have to take a pay cut to better position yourself for the future.

Finkel wrote: ↑22 Jan 2020, 00:04 Agree with that, if you are a professional athlete, you have to consider the financial implications of fights.

However, I think if want respect/legacy sometimes - like in any profession - you might have to take a pay cut to better position yourself for the future.

but first and foremost is money

Aye, it is a fairly nebulous concept. Although the big fights are also the ones that pay best so there's not really a conflict there. I imagine the top fighters also think they can beat other top guys so they want to meet each other and they get 'up' for those big fights. When do you actually hear a fighter mention legacy? It happens, but not that often.

Some fighters just love fighting. To get to the top level of a sport you need a healthy amount of ego and you must love the game. I imagine if you let them make all their own decisions about their career we’d see a lot more legacy fights.