ANTHONY JOSHUA’s final fight of his multi-million-pound deal with Sky Sports takes place this weekend.
The unified heavyweight champion of the world will defend his titles at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday night against the undefeated Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua – who has just signed a new career-defining deal to stay at Matchroom – could bank a massive £30million for Saturday night’s defence against Usyk.
Sky are confident of tying AJ down to a new contract, although new boxing powerhouse DAZN are in the running to snap up the broadcaster’s cash cow.
Joshua, 31, has made a pretty penny during his time competing on Sky.
And with his future with the broadcaster in doubt, SunSport thought it’d only be right to recap the Brit’s earnings for his last eleven fights.
Check out AJ’s last ten purses below:
Dillian Whyte – December 2015 – £3million
AJ’s grudge match with amateur rival Whyte saw him bank his first multi-million-pound payday.
The Watford warrior pocketed a cool £3m for his back-and-forth affair with the Brixton Body Snatcher, which he won via seventh-round KO.
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Charles Martin – April 2016 – £5million
Joshua’s maiden world title fight against the previously undefeated Martin saw him receive a 66 per cent increase in pay, with his purse being a cushty £5m.
AJ would make light work of Martin, stopping him in two rounds to claim the IBF heavyweight title.
Dominic Breazeale – June 2016 – £4.5million
Despite being a champion, Joshua’s first purse for his maiden title defence would be 11 per cent smaller than the one he received for his clash with Martin.
The Olympic gold medallist notched his first title defence in style, stopping American Breazeale in the seventh round.
Eric Molina – December 2016 – £5million
AJ pocketed the same purse for his clash with Molina as he did his maiden title fight with Martin.
And just like he did with Prince, he made light work of the Drummer Boy – knocking him out inside three rounds.
Wladimir Klitschko – April 2017 – £15million
Joshua’s first double-figure million purse came in his eagerly-anticipated Wembley war with fan favourite Wladimir Klitschko.
The Olympian banked a whopping £15m for his clash with Dr Steelhammer, which he won via 11th round TKO.
That purse represented a staggering 200 per cent increase on the one he received for his destruction of Molina.
Carlos Takam – October 2017 – £10million
Despite further catapulting himself into global superstardom and becoming unified heavyweight champ, Joshua’s purse for his clash with Takam ended up being two-thirds of his Klitschko payday.
But that clearly wasn’t on his mind as he registered a 10th-round TKO victory over the Frenchman.
Joseph Parker – March 2018 – £16million
AJ received a 60 per cent pay increase for his champion vs champion bout with then WBO titleholder Joseph Parker.
But he was made to work for his money at the Kiwi took him the distance for the first time in his professional career.
Alexander Povetkin – September 2018 – £20million
A 25 per cent increase in pay followed for Joshua’s return to Wembley to take on former world title challenger Alexander Povetkin.
After going through some early adversity, AJ secured the bag with a seventh-round stoppage of the recently-retired Russian.
Andy Ruiz Jr – June 2019 – £20million
Joshua’s purse for his long-awaited American debut stayed the same as the one he received for his clash with Povetkin.
But his status as unified heavyweight champ went up in smoke at Madison Square Garden as short-notice replacement Ruiz Jr scored a stunning seventh-round TKO victory.
Andy Ruiz Jr – December 2019 – £66million
The biggest payday of Joshua’s career came in his must-win rematch with Ruiz in Saudi Arabia, which was dubbed ‘The Clash on the Dunes’.
Joshua’s purse for his second clash with the Mexican was a staggering 3200 per cent larger than his previous payday – which is not surprising given the global interest in the fight.
The London 2012 star rose to the occasion and put on a clinic on his way to earning a unanimous decision victory.
🥊 Joshua vs Usyk: All the TV, stream and undercard info ahead of Saturday’s heavyweight bout
Kubrat Pulev – December 2020 – £10million
Joshua took an unprecedented £56m pay cut for his lockdown outing against Bulgaria’s Kubrat Pulev, which took place at the SSE Wembley Arena.
AJ ended his lengthy hiatus with a ninth-round KO victory over the durable Bulgarian, whom he was initially supposed to fight in October 2017.
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Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
