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Report: Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua to Net $75M Each for Saudi Arabia Fight
April 24, 2021
Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua will net $75 million apiece for their upcoming superfight in Saudi Arabia as the result of a proposed site fee north of $150 million, per ESPN's Ben Baby, which is a record for a boxing event.
Baby wrote that nothing is final but that Matchroom managing director Eddie Hearn, who promotes Joshua, "received a proposed memorandum of understanding for the fight's financial backers." He is waiting for a legally binding document to close the deal.
Hearn appeared confident that finishing the superfight deal was a formality, telling TalkSport:
"We are dotting the I's and crossing the T's and you will get an announcement soon, but that fight is going to be happening this summer.
"It is one of the biggest of all time, probably the sporting event of 2021, so fingers crossed—we are nearly there.
"I keep saying we are nearly there but, as I said, site approved, deal approved, everything done now.
"We are just papering it and there will be an official announcement soon."
Top Rank's Bob Arum, who promotes Fury, provided more information to Boxing Scene's Dan Rafael.
"We have [site deal] contracts now that we are marking up and so forth," Arum said. "It's a big step. We're just doing the paperwork now with the Saudis."
The proposed dates for the fight are July 24, July 31 and Aug. 7, per Arum, who also said the fight would likely take place in Jeddah. It will be available on pay-per-view in the United States through ESPN.
The bout would be the first in a two-fight deal that Joshua and Fury signed in March to unify the heavyweight titles, per ESPN's Mark Kriegel.
Joshua has won 24 of his 25 professional fights, 22 by way of knockouts. He avenged his only loss—a seventh-round TKO defeat to Andy Ruiz in June 2019—by beating him via unanimous decision in a rematch six months later. He holds the WBA, IBF and WBO belts.
Fury has won 30 of his 31 bouts, 21 by knockout. His lone non-win was a draw against Deontay Wilder in December 2018, but Fury beat his challenger in a February 2020 rematch via a seventh-round TKO. He holds the WBC belt.