SHOCK REVEALED: WHY ANTHONY JOSHUA IS LOSING £32 MILLION OF HIS JAKE PAUL FIGHT PURSE
Anthony Joshua faces a £32 million tax nightmare after his 6th-round KO of Jake Paul in Miami. Full split inside!
Even though Anthony Joshua knocked out Jake Paul in their fight, he's going to have to give up a big chunk of his earnings.
Joshua beat Paul in the sixth round at the Kaseya Centre in Miami on Friday night. Even though he won, the 36-year-old admitted he could have done better against the social media guy-turned-fighter.
Joshua told talkSPORT, "I deserve the criticism," when asked if he thought he'd get heat for letting Paul last six rounds. He said, We're top-level fighters, so if I were a coach and my fighter went six rounds with Jake Paul, I'd drag him back to the gym the next day, give him a hard time, and get him back to work. I'd be like, 'How did you let this kid go six rounds with you? Are you kidding me?'
But I can't change the past. Credit to [Paul], he did well. I told him what would happen, but it just took six rounds.
Even with Joshua's honest take on his own showing, the two-time heavyweight champ has a reason to be happy since he made a lot of money. Sources say that he and Paul shared a prize of about £137 million, split in half, according to the Express.
Referee Christopher Young stopped the fight at 1:31 in the sixth round. Paul (12-2) and Joshua (29-4, 26 KOs) fought for a total of 989 seconds. Each fighter made £68.5 million from the fight, so Joshua made about £69,000 per second, or £4.1 million per minute, while he was in the ring.
But Joshua won't get to keep all that money. Since he lives in the UK, he has to pay taxes in both the US and the UK.
AceOdds says that 37% of Joshua's earnings, about £25.6 million, will go to the IRS. Florida doesn't have state tax, but he still has to pay US income tax at the highest rate because the fight was in the US.
Joshua also has to pay the difference between his UK tax bill and the US tax he already paid, which is about £5.5 million to HMRC. He also owes £1.4 million for National Insurance, which brings his total tax bill to about £32 million.
Still, Joshua says that money wasn't why he fought Paul. "It's not even my biggest payday; it's not about the money," he said.
For me, it was about the chance to show what I can do for the world.
TYSON FURY BLASTS ANTHONY JOSHUA AFTER DANIEL DUBOIS STOPS FABIO WARDLEY IN MANCHESTER
Tyson Fury has labelled Anthony Joshua "chinny" after Daniel Dubois secured the WBO heavyweight title against a resilient Fabio Wardley.
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Tyson Fury wasted no time after Daniel Dubois stopped Fabio Wardley this past weekend, using the moment to take a shot at Anthony Joshua.
Dubois picked up his second heavyweight title Saturday night in Manchester, grabbing the WBO belt from Wardley in a wild, bloodied battle that’s already being called a fight of the year candidate.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Dubois, though. He hit the canvas twice in the first three rounds but bounced back hard, battering Wardley late and leaving his face a mess as the final bell sounded.
Wardley never actually went down during the fight, despite looking wobbly near the end. Credit to him for sheer toughness, but Dubois still beat him decisively. This was Dubois’ first victory since his massive upset over Anthony Joshua earlier in 2024, when he floored AJ four times in one night.
On Sunday, Fury chimed in about Dubois’ latest win. With his own fight against Joshua rumoured for later this year on Netflix, Fury saw an opening to stir the pot.
“Just been thinking about Dubois’ crazy fight last night,” Fury said. Dubois fought [Jarrell] Miller, stopped him, but never put him down. He fought. [Filip] Hrgovic stopped him but never put him down. Fought Wardley last night and stopped him, but didn’t put him down. He hit Usyk with bombs but didn’t drop him. But against Anthony Joshua? Drops him five times.”
Fury added, “I’m not saying Joshua’s got no chin, but facts are facts. Take it however you want. Nobody else went down, not Miller, not Hrgovic, not Usyk, not Wardley. But Joshua hits the deck five times? Chinny, get up, slink!”
Fury is coming off a comeback win over Arslanbek Makhmudov and has already signed on to fight Joshua this year. Joshua will warm up first against Albanian heavyweight Kristian Pregna in Saudi Arabia on July 25 before facing Fury.
Promoter Frank Warren says Fury vs. AJ will probably land in October, though Fury might want another tune-up, which could push things back a bit.
As for Dubois, he’s got options. There’s talk of a rematch with Wardley, a chance to settle the score with Usyk in a trilogy, or a domestic showdown with Moses Itauma. Dubois’ dad, Stan, told talkSPORT he’d rather see his son fight another British heavyweight next, not Usyk.
HOW DANIEL DUBOIS SURVIVED TWO KNOCKDOWNS TO STOP A BLOODY FABIO WARDLEY
"I had to dig deep." Read Daniel Dubois' full reaction to his stunning comeback victory against Fabio Wardley in Manchester.
The punch that changed everything wasn't thrown by either of the fighters.
Fabio Wardley came out blazing in his title defence, dropping Daniel Dubois just 10 seconds in. He did it again in the third round, making it look like his big night. But then, something strange happened. As Dubois got up after the fourth round, his trainer, Don Charles, slapped him hard on both cheeks.
That’s when Dubois woke up. “I had to make him realise what he needed to do,” Charles said afterwards. It’s not exactly the kind of thing you see at team-building seminars, but it worked. Dubois turned on, and suddenly Wardley’s reign started to unravel.
Wardley had picked Dubois for the first fight since collecting the WBO belt that Oleksandr Usyk dropped. Honestly, it looked like a smart pick: he dropped Dubois twice and set the tone. But after that slap, Dubois started seeing Wardley’s moves coming; those wild lunges became easier to dodge.
He landed his stiff jab and followed up with savage right hands. Wardley’s jaw somehow took the hits, but his nose was pouring blood, and his right eye was almost swollen shut. He kept pushing forward, showing crazy heart, while Dubois just kept piling on. The fight turned into a brutal spectacle, the kind you can’t look away from.
Wardley got checked twice by doctors but kept fighting. Honestly, it could've stopped before the second-to-last round, when referee Howard Foster finally stepped in. Dubois got his second world title; Wardley, battered and worn, just managed a thumbs up to his mum.
Dubois summed it up later: “I had to dig really deep. When you’re a warrior, you go to dark places. I was nervous at first, all over the place, and had to fight my own battles. That slap woke me up. My dad and everyone were in my corner; I couldn’t let them down.
“Fabio came to fight; he was tough. We were exhausted; it was a real war. I had to use all my skills to win. Great fight, great battle, and I’m No. 1 again.” Sure, Usyk might argue about that, but Dubois proved something; he got up off the canvas and won.
People have called Dubois a quitter since the Joe Joyce fight six years ago. Wardley himself thought Dubois would fold again in Manchester, and for three rounds it looked like he was right until reality snapped Dubois awake.
