HBO Boxing salaries: Lomachenko $1 million, Walters $300,000

Vasyl Lomachenko (6-1, 4 KOs) is a two-time Olympic gold medalist with an amateur record of 396-1, and in just 7 professional fights, the Ukrainian has become the fastest boxer in history to win major world championships in multiple divisions. Tonight’s HBO Boxing main event vs. Nicholas Walters is considered to be one of the best matchups of the year, and Lomachenko’s first defense of his WBO 130 lbs title will also be his first $1,000,000 fight purse, per ESPN’s Dan Rafael.

It is worth noting that this fight initially fell through when Walters initially wanted a $1 million purse of his own. Walters turned down a career-high payday of $550,000 to face Lomachenko in June, and Vasyl wound up fighting (and knocking out) Rocky Martinez. The Jamaican also didn’t see Lomachenko’s wager, that if Walters were to beat him he’d give him $300,000 from his own purse, as something to take seriously.

For what it’s worth, Lomachenko had a purse of $825,000 for his KO of then-WBO junior lightweight champion Rocky Martinez, who received $425,000.

Bloody Elbow will have live, round-by-round coverage of Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Nicholas Walters tonight, with the HBO broadcast kicking off at 10:35 PM ET from The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada. For more boxing coverage, check out Bad Left Hook.