By Max Seitelman: We soon could be seeing a massive fight between heavyweight world champions Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua in 2021 if their promoters can get the two-deal across the finish line. The first Fury-Joshua fight will be a 50/50 split of the revenue and the second 60/40 with the winner of the first contest getting the more significant cut.
The situation with the pandemic is something that could in the way of the Joshua vs. Fury fight. The promoters for the events need the two contests to take place in front of live audiences because of the money they can make. They want the two Joshua-Fury fights to take place in the U.K. under ideal circumstances, but the pandemic foils those plans.
According to promoter Frank Warren, Joshua (23-1, 21 K.O.s) and Fury (30-0-1, 21 K.O.s) could get from $60 million to $70 million each for one fight. That’s good money, even for these two heavyweights. Fury’s net worth will effectively triple for the first fight if those numbers hold.
Fury is so over the moon about the Joshua fight that he’s ultimately looking past the Deontay Wilder fight, which could be a bad omen. We saw how Joshua overlooked Andy Ruiz Jr. last year in June and paid it for it in getting knocked out in the seventh round.
Contracts haven’t been signed yet
There’s an agreement in place for the Joshua vs. Fury fight but only on the financial side. That was always going to be the easy part of the negotiations. The real headache will come from sifting through the broadcast rights problems, and then finding a date and location that will make the most money.
If they were to have the first Joshua-Fury fight right now, it wouldn’t do well if it were staged in the U.S. or U.K. Those countries are only now opening back up after being shut down due to the pandemic.
A.J. and Fury will make even more in their second fight next year. As long as their first match is competitive, the Joshua-Fury rematch should do just as well, if not better.
Contracts haven’t been signed yet for the Joshua-Fury, but they have an agreement for them to fight the first of two matches in the summer of 2021.
Before A.J. and Tyson can meet up next year, they need to win their fights in 2020. Fury would appear to have the toughest test in defending against former WBC champion Deontay ‘Bronze Bomber’ Wilder. Joshua has what should be a comfortable victory over Kubrat Pulev.
Fury’s commitments don’t end with his trilogy fight against Wilder. On top of that, Fury has WBC mandatory that he needs to satisfy against Dillian Whyte that is due by February 2021. Whyte’s promoter Eddie Hearn wants Dillian to get his title shot on time, but if that happens, it could put in jeopardy the two Joshua fights.
Whyte wants his title shot
There’s the potential of Fury losing to Whyte, and even if he wins, it could be a grueling match. If Fury gets injured, that’ll throw off his plans on fighting Joshua twice. Also, it’s asking a lot of Fury for him to fight three times in 2021. Fury can probably do it if he must, but that’s not going to be easy for the 31-year-old.
One way out of the Whyte mess would be for Fury to pay him a massive step aside fee to have him move aside so that he can face Joshua. Another way for Fury to get Whyte out of the road would be for the World Boxing Council to make Tyson their Franchise champion at heavyweight.
Fury’s promoter Bob Arum already mentioned this as a possibility. He might need to press the issue with the WBC if Whyte doesn’t give up on his assistance that he fight for the title in early next year.
It would be a lot less expensive for Fury if the WBC makes him the Franchise champion. That would save him from paying Whyte a giant step aside fee.
Joshua vs. Fury to make massive money
“Nothing has been agreed, no contract,” Warren said to ESPN.com on the negotiations for the Joshua vs. Fury fight. “These guys could get between $60 to $70 million each from one fight against each other, double that if there’s a rematch, in one year.”
They’re calling the Joshua vs. Fury fight the biggest heavyweight match in the history of British boxing. Hopefully, it lives up to the billing. Fury’s first fight against Wilder was boring to watch, and his match against Wladimir Klitschko in 2015 was even worse.
Until his rematch with Wilder last February, Fury had been more of a spoiler in terms of his fighting style. If he reverts to that style against Joshua, he’s going to upset a lot of fans.
Joshua’s rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr. last December was a big fight for him in terms of the money he made in the fight, but the Fury fight could surpass it. The only thing that could keep it from being the colossal match that people think it will be is if they can’t sell it in the U.S. on pay-per-view. Joshua fights on DAZN, and they don’t have PPV yet.
