Eric 'Butterbean' Esch is one of the most popular cultural figures in boxing, but he has never made the big dollar that his star power may have justified.
Although promoter Bob Arum claims that he eventually caught more than $ 1 million collectively, a slight excavation below the surface indicates that it was not all wealth. Finally, he fought hundreds of times, including 13 attacks in the year of his largest payment day against Peter McNeeley.
He has also become notorious for his performances in the MMA cage where he fought, such as Mariusz Pudzianowski and in TV programs such as Jackass. He is currently insisting on a final big cash fight against Jake Paul after he has come under 300 pounds for the first time in 30 years.
Butterbean's career income indicates that he never made six digits for a fight
Although many of the stock markets of Butterbean are unknown, a fleeting search indicates online that his highest payment day was a $ 60,000 fixed fee for a 1999 showdown with Peter McNeeley. Four years after Medfield's own Mike Tyson was confronted, he got a chance for Butterbean on Pay-per-View.
The competition did not last long, because the big man landed a fast first round knockout before he returned to the ring in Tijuana a few weeks later. However, Esch was never able to parlay that payment in a large cash fight with Mike Tyson as he had planned.
Photocredit should read Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty images
Promoter Bob Arum claimed that Esch was' to 'from' in his career $ 1 million by Fight Number 50 in a La Times interview in 1999. But given how often he competed and other costs, this does not entirely mean that Butterbean was once a millionaire.
Indeed, the fact that he fought deep in the 2000s, despite health problems and even forced himself to get into the cage, would indicate that money might have been tight. He was once at a moving distance of an $ 2 million exhibition with Shaquille O'Neal in the midst of rumors about an NBA lockout, but that never came true.
Esch also aimed famous Mike Tyson in the late 90s, but the 'King of the Four Rounders' could never get that fight either.
Butterbean wants one last payment day against Jake Paul
Now at the age of 59, Butterbean has dropped hundreds of kilos and he insists that he could come back in the ring again. He wants that fight with controversial Jake Paul, who is currently preparing to fight against Gervonta Davis despite a weight of more than 90 pounds.
“Butterbean is back for another fight,” he said during a fake conference. “There is only one hunter who wants to fight with retired bald boys. Jake Paul, I come for you. I want to fight Jake Paul because he also runs his mouth – a lot.”
Esch claims that their feuds goes back until 2020 when he was bed bound by health problems, and Paul mocked him during a press conference.