Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury have seemingly done it all in boxing. On December 11, they will cross paths, checking each other off their bucket list.
A fight years in the making, a clash between the two Brits will emanate from Cardiff, Wales. This follows rumors of Saudi Arabia and the U.S. hosting the fight. Location matters, as does timing, as the event is expected to start late in the U.K. via a deal with Netflix.
Netflix has put on several boxing events over the years, including Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson, Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano 3, and Paul vs. Joshua. Each event has resulted in massive paydays for the fighters.
The purse for the Fury vs. Joshua fight is expected to land around $200 million USD (£151 million), with each taking close to $100 million. However, Joshua’s purse is expected to take a significant hit by fight night.
Initially, Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh, his American partner and UFC boss Dana White, and Netflix executives pushed for Madison Square Garden as the ideal venue.
But Joshua and Matchroom’s Eddie Hearns held out for the U.K. as the ideal location between the British heavyweights, despite the considerable hit to his bottom line.
It appears the location, which includes a withholding tax, resulted in Joshua reportedly taking a pay cut of $13 million (£10 million) for the fight.
“People started saying ‘please bring the fight to the UK’ and AJ started feeling that,” Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn said via ESPN. “To keep it in the UK he’s got to turn down eight figures plus. AJ goes to me ‘whatever you think’ and I’m like ‘no, no, no, it’s your money. I can’t make that decision for you.’
“He asks what [do you] think I should do and I told him I think the UK is where the fight should be because there’s an edge for him to have this fight in the UK, but it’s a lot of money. And he went ‘f- it, we’ll do it in the UK.'”
Due to a variety of factors including timing with the considerable U.S. market, Alalshikh revealed that moving the fight from New York cost him excess of $70 million USD. In the end, concessions including a later walk time, 80,000-seat venue in Cardiff and an eight-figure purse cut were enough to get the fight made.
