Boxing judges observe bouts between fighters from outside the ring and work with the referees to assign points to each contender. These judges usually make somewhere between $20,000 and $40,000 per year, depending on their employer, based on May 2010 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). However, rates vary widely between amateur and professional boxing.

How Boxing Judges Get Paid

Boxing judges usually receive pay on a per fight basis. In professional boxing, which involves payments to the contenders, in most cases it is the event promoter who pays the judge's fee. The higher the purse, or prize awarded to the fight winner, the more important the judging becomes and the higher fee the judges get. In amateur fights, proper scoring is important in order for the boxers to gain a good reputation and advance in tournaments. Salaries for boxing judges thus is variable.

Typical Pay

The BLS includes boxing judges in the "Umpires, Referees and Other Sports Officials" category. In May, 2010, the average yearly compensation in this category was $28,900, an increase of 1.9 percent from 2009 to 2010. Another source, the SimplyHired website, indicates that sports referees such as boxing judges averaged $23,000 as of June, 2011.

Range

The BLS indicates that individuals in the 10th percentile in the "Umpires, Referees and Other Sports Officials" category made $16,310 per year as of May 2010. In the 90th percentile, pay was $50,350 annually. However, because boxing judges' salaries depend on the fight purse and the number of fights refereed, some top professional boxing judges easily can exceed $100,000 per year if they judge consistently through the year for major fights and organizations. Each fight may garner $150 to $25,000 for a judge as of 2011, according to the Maxizip website.

Pay by Sector

Boxing judges can find work in different sectors. In May, 2010, the sector with the highest level of employment was the local government sector, which paid $27,420 annually, says the bureau. The highest-paying sector was the business, professional, labor, political and similar organization sector, which provided $39,470 per year. Promoters of performing arts, sports and similar events paid $36,560. In elementary and secondary schools, pay was $36,320. Gambling employers paid $31,030, while pay in other schools and instruction establishments was $30,830.

Pay by State

According to the BLS, umpires, referees and other sports officials such as boxing judges earned the highest pay in Michigan, $59,470 per year. Pennsylvania and Vermont followed with rates of $43,510 and $42,100, respectively. New York gave $41,900 and Oklahoma provided $41,770.

The lowest compensation for boxing judges and similar workers was found in Georgia, where rates averaged $16,190 per year. South Carolina paid $17,950. In Tennessee, judges earned $20,070, while Kentucky judges made $20,750. Pay in Alabama was $20,900.