ANTHONY JOSHUA and Tyson Fury face a 50 PER CENT pay cut to hold their dream 2021 undisputed decider in the UK.
If AJ comes through Saturday’s WBA, IBF and WBO defence against Kubrat Pulev, little stands in the way of the all-English battle happening over two legs next year.
Eddie Hearn has already confirmed a 50-50 split has been agreed for the first leg, with the winner taking 60-40 for the rematch.
But the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia where Joshua boxed last time out and WBC boss Fury wrestled in 2019, is ready to buy the fight away from British fans.
And Hearn appreciates that, in a post-Covid 19 world, the UK is fighting a losing battle to keep the biggest fight in the nation’s history on home soil.
The Matchroom boss said: “If you ask both fighters and both promotional companies where they’d prefer that fight to take place, everybody would say London, everyone. So if there’s a way to do it then great.
“We’re not in the same situation as many countries which have significant budgets to bring major sporting events to cities or to countries.
“We’re not also in a period where we should be asking the Government to provide that kind of help. They’ve got bigger things to worry about.
“We have to rely on the revenue that could be generated from the fight, via the gate and not the revenue that could be generated by a tourism board or by a Government to bring an event like that to a country, so that’s why it’s always difficult.
“It will literally be probably a 50 per cent pay-cut to do the fight in the UK and that’s how brutal it is.
“If it was 10, 20 or 30 per cent you could have the argument but you’re literally going to make half the money to do it in the UK.”
AJ is set to bank around £6million for this Wembley Arena showdown, with the coffers slightly boosted by the 1000 tickets that went on sale.
Fury wanted to fight last weekend but his broadcast partners would not cough up his going rate, for the limited level of opponent he was willing to face.
So Hearn is happy to suggest, while Joshua certainly doesn’t fight for free, the Gypsy King will be the one driving up the price.
He said: “In terms of money in the pot, ultimately the fighters will decide where that fight will be held.
“I don’t think you can just put it on Tyson and say, ‘we need to get as much money as possible for him to accept the fight’.
“But I do think AJ has consistently earned a lot of money over the last four years and will he care less about the total number in the pot than Tyson Fury? Probably.
“But still AJ’s not going to do it for half the money just because it sounds nice.”
