Well, let’s talk about how much them boxing referees get paid, you know, the fellas in the ring with the fighters. It ain’t always the same, that’s for sure.
Some small-time fights, they don’t pay much. I heard tell some refs only get, like, 150 bucks a fight. Yeah, just a little somethin’-somethin’. Maybe up to a thousand, if they lucky. That’s for them local matches, you know, the ones nobody really hears about. Just some fellas punchin’ each other, and the ref makin’ sure they don’t break no rules.
But then you got the big-time fights, the ones on TV. Them pay-per-view things, where folks pay a whole lotta money to watch. Them refs, they gettin’ paid good. I heard they can make anywhere from ten thousand to twenty-five thousand dollars for one fight! Can you believe that? Twenty-five thousand dollars just to watch two guys box and say “stop” and “fight” and “break”! That’s a whole lotta money for yellin’ a few words and pointin’ fingers. Must be nice.
So, how much exactly? It’s kinda all over the place, like a chicken with its head cut off. Some matches, they pay a few hundred, maybe three hundred and fifty, up to fifteen hundred. That’s okay money, I guess. But the top dogs, the ones who do the championship fights, they the ones makin’ the real dough. Five thousand, ten thousand, even twenty-five thousand, like I said. It all depends on how big the fight is, how many people watchin’, and I reckon, how good the ref is. They probably pay more to the refs who don’t mess up too much, you know, the ones who know what they’re doin’.
- Small Fights: $150 – $1,000
- Regular Matches: $350 – $1,500
- Big-Time PPV Fights: $10,000 – $25,000
Now, some folks say there’s even refs makin’ more than that. I read somewhere about a fella, Walt Anderson, I think his name was, made a quarter of a million dollars in a year! That’s a whole lot of chickens, let me tell ya. But he was one of the best, I guess. Other top refs, they gettin’ close to that much too. Brad Allen, Craig Wrolstad, them fellas. They ain’t complainin’ about their paychecks, that’s for sure.
It ain’t just boxing, neither. Them UFC fellas, the ones who do that cage fightin’, they gettin’ paid too. Not as much as the boxing refs, maybe, but still pretty good. Few hundred bucks for a regular fight, up to a couple thousand. But the big UFC fights, the championship ones, them refs can make ten thousand too. It all adds up, you know. They can make thirty thousand, maybe even a hundred thousand dollars a year, just from watchin’ folks fight.
And then there’s them judges, the ones who sit ringside and score the fight. They get paid by the hour, mostly. I heard they make somethin’ like twenty-four dollars an hour, on average. Some make more, some make less. But it ain’t as much as the refs, that’s for sure. The ref, he’s the one in charge, the one makin’ sure everything’s fair. He’s gotta be quick, gotta be smart, gotta know the rules. And he’s gotta be brave too, standin’ in there between them fighters. So I guess it makes sense they gettin’ paid more.
So, to sum it all up, how much a boxing ref makes depends on a lotta things. The size of the fight, the experience of the ref, and how famous they are, I guess. But one thing’s for sure, them top refs, they makin’ some serious money. More money than most folks I know, that’s for darn sure. And good for them, I say. It ain’t easy bein’ a ref. You gotta have eyes like a hawk and nerves of steel. So, if they gettin’ paid good money to do it, well, I ain’t gonna complain. They earned it, far as I’m concerned.
It ain’t just about the money though. I reckon these refs, they love boxing. They gotta love it, to do what they do. Standin’ in there, gettin’ sweat and blood on ya, makin’ tough calls, and havin’ everyone yellin’ at ya. It ain’t a job for the faint of heart. But for the right fella, it’s a good way to make a livin’, and a way to be part of somethin’ excitin’. And gettin’ paid good money for it too, that’s just the icing on the cake, ain’t it?
