Nigerian-born former two-time world heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Olaseni Oluwafemi Joshua is set to pocket £75m from his November 11th much-awaited and highly anticipated mega fight with British rival Tyson Fury in Cardiff, Wales.
Sports247 gathered that, after many months of suspense and puffing, the ‘Battle of Brits’ now has a confirmed venue and date, with both boxers also said to have reached an agreement that will see them share a total purse of £150m equally, regardless of who wins the bout.
Ironically, Joshua and Fury could have ended up earning more from the mega-fight had the Nigerian-born former champ and London 2012 Olympic Games gold medalist agreed to have it staged outside the United Kingdom, as many sponsors suggested.
However, rather than settle for the lure of cash, ‘AJ’ insisted on having the bout in the UK as a show of appreciation to British boxing fans who he recalled gave him a huge welcome at Wembley Stadium when he stepped out to defeat Alexander Povetkin in 2018.
Nonetheless, the expected take-home for Joshua and ‘The Gypsy King’ is still going to be the biggest purse for either of them so far in their highly illustrious careers, during which they have both been crowned heavyweight world champions at various points in time.
Consequently, against the push of Saudi Arabian backers – supported by US streamers, Netflix – to have the fight at New York’s Madison Square Garden, the biggest purse in British boxing history will finally hold in the early hours of December 12 at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.
A report by UK’s SunSport revealed, “Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua’s past-due Principality punch-up will be the richest fight in the history of British boxing. The twin flag-bearers of UK boxing over the last decade will finally collide on December 11 in a pre-Christmas cracker in Cardiff.
“A whopping £150 million ($198 million) will be the prize pot for the eagerly anticipated Welsh war. And it’s understood there will be no A-side when it comes to purses splits, with both men taking home a cool £75m ($99m).
“The purses the pair will receive for the fight, which could end up being their swansongs, are expected to dwarf their current biggest paydays. SunSports understands both men are honours even when it comes to career-high purses, having both banked £65m ($85m) paydays.
“Joshua could have banked an even bigger payday if he’d bowed down to Turki Alalshikh and Netflix’s demands to have the fight take place at Madison Square Garden. But he dug his heels into the ground and insisted the Battle of Britain, as per the terms of his contract, take place in the UK.”
Joshua also explained why he insisted on UK for the fight, as he told SunSport: “British boxing gave me everything, it changed my life. I was going down the wrong path until I found Sean Murphy and Johnny Oliver at Finchley ABC.
“And then came Team GB in Sheffield – and all the amazing coaches that worked every day for the love of the sport. Not the money – because there was no money. It was the UK or nothing.”
