"He's in it for the money"

[p4pking]

Professional prizefighting is mostly about fighting for money, but that's not the whole story: the competitive nature certainly plays a part as dos the drive for personal fame, to be somebody.
Some of these guys really want to prove they're the best, or can at least compete with the best.

Take mixed martial arts: most ufc guys, even the champions, are fighting for peanuts compared to the lion's share of the ppv dollars that goes to dana white and the fertittas. For them, apparently, the money isn't the most important factor.

When a guy's only in it for the money, that's when fight's end up not being on the level, when guy's throw fights and take dives if the money's right, and some prizefighters with real Heart just don't have it in them to lay down for anybody at any price...

UFC guys make peanuts compared to Dana White because he is the only promoter that exists for them. If every boxer had to sign with Bob Arum or else find another career, they would make peanuts as well. Not to mention there aren't many other lucrative options for most fighters of any sort, these UFC guys are still fighting to earn as much as they possibly can, of course it's the most important factor unless they are bonafide mental as Fenster said.

Floyd Mayweather has been woefully inactive in recent years, he wasn't fighting any more than Haye was until recently, do you think he didn't love boxing coming up the ranks? Never mind whether he does now, fighters almost never get to a point where they have the luxury of being inactive and still making a living, unless they put in a lifetime of blood sweat and tears to do so. When you factor in the sentiments of most boxing fans, who the hell can blame them? If a guy takes on murderers every time out and fights for the crowd, he is still criticized for ducking someone or not doing this and that, and he'll probably wind up broke wearing diapers by his 50s to show for it.