CARDIFF, United Kingdom — Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury could each earn about $100 million for their December 11 fight at the Principality Stadium, according to unconfirmed estimates.
News reports published on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, put the combined purse at nearly $200 million (£151 million). Neither fighter’s promoter has publicly confirmed the payments.
The report cited The Times as saying that Fury had sought a larger share before an approximately equal division was agreed.
Figures for Netflix’s broadcasting payment, sponsorship income, and payments to undercard fighters have also not been disclosed.
Earlier Negotiations Failed to Produce a Fight
The proposed meeting follows several unsuccessful efforts to bring the British heavyweights into the same ring.
As The Trent previously reported, their representatives reached an agreement in principle for two contests in 2020.
Contracts were signed the following year, when a meeting between them would have brought together the major heavyweight titles.
That arrangement unravelled after Deontay Wilder won an arbitration case establishing his right to a third contest against Fury.
Negotiations in 2022 also ended without a fight, despite Joshua accepting a proposed 60–40 division of the purse.
The December contest would be their first professional meeting. Both appeared at a London news conference on September 30, according to Netflix’s account of the event.
Venue and Promotional Roles Disputed
Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, said securing a British venue had required his fighter to accept more than £10 million ($13 million) less.
“To keep it in the UK, he (Joshua) has got to turn down eight figures plus,” Hearn said.
UFC chief Dana White, Netflix, and Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh had preferred Madison Square Garden in New York, according to the purse report.
It attributed Cardiff’s selection to the Principality Stadium’s retractable roof.
A separate disagreement concerns White’s authority over the event. Netflix identified White and Alalshikh’s The Ring as collaborators in promoting the fight, while Hearn has maintained that Joshua’s contractual arrangements prevent White from acting as a promoter.
White insisted on October 7 that he would promote and produce the contest, according to MMA Fighting’s report of his remarks.
Hearn continued to challenge that position. In an iFL TV interview reported by MMA Fighting on October 21, he said the contracts also excluded White and the UFC from producing the broadcast.
About 80,000 tickets were purchased in roughly an hour on October 9, with more than 500,000 people joining Ticketmaster’s queue, according to the purse report. White estimated ticket receipts at about $34 million, describing that figure as a British record.
Netflix will carry the fight worldwide, with existing subscribers able to watch without an additional charge.
