Joshua to earn record N45.5bn in Saudi clash with Wilder
Anthony Joshua is set to earn about staggering premium payday of around £47.3m (N45.5bn) for his clash against Deontay Wilder slated for Saudi Arabia this December.
Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter and Matchroom Boxing CEO, who disclosed this, said it is in line with the promise by the match organizer, Skills Challenge Promotions, which promised that all parties involved would receive a ‘premium price’ for their services for the match when the fight was first announced.
Hearn revealed the figure in an interview with Froch on Fighting while discussing the ongoing negotiations for Joshua’s rematch with Dillian Whyte and his other fights.
Talks on the Wilder fight are scheduled to take place this week in London for the final agreement on the mega-bucks fight. Skills Challenge is hoping to stage the long-awaited undisputed fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk on the same card as the Joshua – Wilder fight but that hope is getting slimmer with Frank Warren, Fury’s promoter not comfortable with the timeframe in favour of his client and claiming that his agency, Queensbury Promotions has receive no offer from the Saudis.
Amer Abdallah, Skills Challenge’s Head of Boxing had told Express Sport in June that the only reason the two big fights wouldn’t take place is if those involved didn’t want the fight to happen but claimed that both Fury and Usyk were interested.
“Tyson wants the fight, from what I understand. I know George (Warren) wants the fight and Frank (Warren) wants the fight at Queensberry,” he said.
“Usyk definitely wants the fight. Joshua wants the fight. Eddie (Hearn) wants the fight. Shelly (Finkel) wants the fight. Deontay wants the fight. I mean, there’s nothing that should prevent this from happening. And, the offer that will be made from Skill Challenge will be very good.
“It won’t be one that we’re going to go back and forth with. It’s going to be a premium price, and we’re going to offer it to these guys and pay them their market value, if not, maybe even a little bit more. We’re going to put on great fights and a great event. If anything prevents this fight from happening it’s because certain individuals don’t want the fight to happen, it won’t be because the money isn’t there,” Abdallah said.
