Purse Swinging

Oscar's tops, but elite fighters have always lived in Fat City

FLOYD MAYWEATHERbeat him to take the WBC middleweight belt—but Oscar De La Hoya probablydoesn't feel like too much of a loser. The May 5 Mayweather--De La Hoyasmackdown was the most lucrative bout ever: De La Hoya, as savvy at thenegotiating table as he is in the ring, pocketed $45 million, while Mayweather(above) settled for about $25 million. In raw dollars De La Hoya's is by farthe largest purse for a single fighter. But what about the buying power of hisbonanza of bucks? Using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' inflation calculator,we figured out what other notable purses would be worth in 2007 dollars. De LaHoya's haul still comes out on top, but Evander Holyfield is a lot closer tohim than it first appears.

[This article contains a complex diagram. Please see hardcopy of magazine orPDF.]

PHOTO

HEW BURNEY/ATLAS PRESS (MAYWEATHER)

ILLUSTRATION

ILLUSTRATION BY SLIM FILMS

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BETTMANN/CORBIS (TUNNEY)

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JOHN IACONO (DE LA HOYA)