Terence Crawford and Gervonta Davis have both made great livings as fighters, but which one has made more money in the boxing careers?
What sparked this question? The two world champions have been engaged in a nasty war of words on X, and the source of their beef is multi-layered.
Terence Crawford and Gervonta Davis Have Been Publicly Beefing
Davis took to social media as he went on a profane rant insulting Turki Alalshikh, the Saudi powerbroker who bought The Ring Magazine and has been the driving force behind several huge boxing events over the past two years and the the fighters who attended the event.
Davis has since deleted most of the posts, but he was seemingly frustrated that he wasn’t invited to The Ring Magazine awards show in London.
Crawford, who was there and seemingly negotiating a mega-fight with Canelo Alvarez, poked Davis in a post on X.
Davis responded with a series of strong accusations and harsh words, including some out-of-bounds insults about Crawford’s wife in a now-deleted post.
The two went back and forth about who has made the most in their careers.
Who Has Made the Most Money in Their Career: Terence Crawford or Gervonta Davis?
The short answer to this question is: only a handful of people know and none of them would give you a straight answer. PPV network executives, promoters and managers know the real answer.
While the definitive answer isn’t publicly available, there are facts, opinions, and perspectives to consider.
ESPN’s Mike Coppinger insists Crawford has made more in his career, mostly on the strength of his pay-per-view battle with Errol Spence Jr. in 2023 and his fight against Israil Madrimov in August 2024.
Davis has had one massive PPV event, and that was his impressive TKO win over Ryan Garcia in April 2023.
That said, Davis is unquestionably one of the biggest draws in the sport and his pay-per-view totals are considerably higher than Crawford.
Terence Crawford’s PPV Sales:
Gervonta Davis’s PPV Sales:
Davis’ manager/advisor, Leonard Ellerbe, chimed in, taking aim at Coppinger.
You could argue Crawford is more respected as a fighter amongst his peers, but Davis is more popular—which might be a more direct barometer for earning potential and financial success.
The uninitiated will look at purse totals, but any professional manager, promoter, fighter, trainer, journalist, or well-versed fan will tell you those totals are just a portion of the money story for a fighter.
The real money for fighters has traditionally been made through their abilities to sell pay-per-views—if they ascend to that level.
Alalshikh has been able to alter this model by offering more guaranteed money to fighters who work with him, which is separate from the PPV sales.
Ellerbe insisted Davis makes “eight figures” for every fight, which sounds reasonable based on Tank’s drawing power, but it hasn’t always been that way for the lightweight champion. When did he reach that level?
That’s an important piece if we’re to determine who wins this almost shameful argument.
The undefeated Crawford, who is 37, has been a professional since 2008 and a world champion since 2014. Davis, 30, has been a professional since 2013. He won his first world title in 2017.
Based on the years active, it is clear Crawford has been performing on a championship level longer than Davis. Championship fights and main event spots generally produce larger payouts. From a tenure standpoint, Crawford could have an advantage.
That said, Davis’ popularity is undeniable and evidenced by his 7.5 million followers on Instagram (where he has only two live posts) and 778K followers on X.
By comparison, Crawford, who is far more active on IG and has been well-known for longer, has only 1.8 million followers. On X, he has 468K.
While these numbers aren’t the only notable factor when determining earning potential, the entertainment world has placed an increasingly higher value on social media reach—hence the rise of the influencer.
Because of Davis’ meteoric rise in popularity, he has likely averaged more money per fight than Crawford up to now, but that is likely changing with Alalshikh in the mix.
Other stateside promoters simply cannot compete with the money he is guaranteeing fighters to participate in the fights most fans want to see. Crawford’s reported $10 million payday for fighting Madrimov will be dwarfed by what Bud will receive if the fight with Canelo happens—as it appears it will.
Meanwhile, Davis is headed for a fight in March that he has to carry and promote on his own. With all due respect to Lamont Roach Jr., a legitimate world champion, he doesn’t have the name or following to help bring Davis a PPV audience that can raise his earnings to Crawford’s new neighborhood.
If Davis is to continue to earn major paydays, he needs to fight guys like Vasily Lomachenko, Shakur Stevenson, perhaps Keyshawn Davis—if he continues to win—and others.
If not, and he stays on the outside of Alalshikh’s growing network of fighters, it could be tough for him to find compelling fights that deliver major paydays.
