Anthony Joshua’s stoppage victory over Jake Paul in Miami has set off a fresh debate about the scale of modern fight purses and how much of the headline number ever reaches a boxer’s bank account, after claims that the former heavyweight champion could see tens of millions stripped away through tax on one of the richest nights in boxing history.
The bout, streamed by Netflix from the United States, ended in the sixth round after Joshua floored Paul multiple times and finally finished the American with a heavy knockdown that left the YouTuber turned prizefighter unable to beat the referee’s count. Paul later suggested he had suffered a broken jaw, posting video from a hospital bed as reaction poured in online to the spectacle of a crossover star being outgunned by an established elite heavyweight.
Paul’s promoter, Nakisa Bidarian, framed the outcome as a reminder of the sport’s basic reality, telling ESPN: “This is the reality check for the audience that Jake Paul is not some gimmicky, YouTuber boxer. When he gets in there with an elite boxer, he is going to lose.”
Joshua, 36, entered the fight as a heavy favourite and, according to The Independent, spent the early rounds tracking a mobile and evasive opponent before gradually breaking him down, scoring four knockdowns on the way to the knockout.
The contest was marketed as a blockbuster event built around the collision of combat sports celebrity and championship pedigree. Paul, 28, had built his boxing profile through high-profile match-ups and last year’s controversial points win over a 58-year-old Mike Tyson, a fight that was lucrative for both men and which, The Independent reported, was said to have paid Paul about $40m and Tyson $20m. Joshua’s team and Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions then pushed for an even bigger commercial moment in Miami, promising a purse that could surpass anything seen in the recent Saudi-backed boom in boxing.
While official purse figures were not published in the immediate aftermath, the numbers circulating around the fight have been vast even by the sport’s standards. The Independent reported that, before the bout was confirmed, the Daily Mail suggested a prize pot of around £140m, or roughly $184m, potentially to be split evenly. Paul later posted a different figure on X, writing: “Stop asking me. $267 Million.”
Sports and entertainment accountant Oriana Morrison told The Independent that even the lower rumoured purse would place the bout in rare territory. “Even if the lower figure – the rumoured $184m purse – is true, AJ could bring home $92m [£70m],” she said, adding: “We haven’t seen a boxing match with a purse at this level since Mayweather vs Pacquiao in 2015 or even Mayweather vs McGregor in 2017. It’s higher than any Saudi purse to date.”
Those extraordinary sums help explain why attention quickly shifted from the knockout itself to what happens next, not only in sporting terms but financially. Online discussion has centred on how much of such a payday would be lost through tax, fees and costs, particularly for a UK-based athlete earning a major portion of income in the United States.
For British residents, HM Revenue and Customs generally treats worldwide income as taxable in the UK, with relief mechanisms to avoid double taxation when tax has already been paid overseas, depending on the circumstances and applicable rules. That means the location of the event, the residence status of the athlete and the way income is classified can all matter when the final bill is calculated.
In the United States, payments to non-US athletes and entertainers can also be subject to withholding and additional tax rules, with obligations that can apply at source and further filings sometimes required, depending on how the earnings are structured and reported. US tax guidance notes that certain types of US-sourced income paid to nonresident aliens can be subject to a 30% withholding rate, while other income connected to conducting a trade or business in the US can be taxed under different rules.
The mechanics can be complex in a fight promotion where revenue streams may include guaranteed purses, pay-per-view or streaming uplifts, sponsorship, and performance-related bonuses, as well as deductions for training camps, management and promotional costs. Even in a straightforward split of a giant headline purse, the final “take-home” figure can look dramatically different once commissions, sanctioning and licensing fees, travel, insurance and tax are accounted for.
That is the context behind claims circulating alongside coverage of Joshua’s win that a figure on the order of £32m could be paid away in tax. The Independent’s reporting on the purse suggests a potential gross Joshua share in the tens of millions of pounds even under the lower estimates, creating a plausible scenario in which taxation alone runs into eight figures, before any other deductions.
The fight itself was billed as a major moment for boxing’s reach in the US, with Morrison telling The Independent that American audiences had not previously had the chance to “savour Anthony Joshua’s talent and charisma,” and describing the bout as “definitely a turning point for boxing in the US.” She also said: “MVP and Jake Paul are dragging new audiences into boxing. They’re forcing boxing to modernise its promotion and pay fighters better than established promoters.”
Bidarian, speaking to ESPN, argued that Paul has had a “much more successful boxing career than people give him credit for,” but accepted the sporting verdict against a former unified heavyweight champion. “He is a big-time boxer,” he said. “Tonight we took that chance, because we had to take it.”
For Paul, the immediate aftermath was dominated by injury concerns and questions about what comes next after a defeat that, on the evidence of the finish, left him badly hurt. The American had suggested his jaw was broken, while acknowledging the physical toll in remarks quoted by ESPN: “I’m happy I gave it my all. I’m just trying to enjoy the moment right now. It was a war. Joshua is a great fighter.”
For Joshua, the victory reinforced his status as one of the most bankable figures in heavyweight boxing, even as his recent career has been defined by rebuilding after championship losses and navigating the shifting economics of the sport. A night that combined spectacle, celebrity and a decisive stoppage also positioned him at the centre of boxing’s newest commercial model, where streaming platforms and influencer-driven promotion can produce purses once associated only with a handful of super-fights.
Yet the tax debate illustrates a second reality that follows any record payday: the gross figure is not the same as the net. With reported numbers ranging from a “mooted” £140m pot to Paul’s claimed “$267 Million,” and with Joshua’s share potentially in the region of $92m under the lower estimate, the sums involved are large enough that tax outcomes alone can rival the total purses of world title fights from only a few years ago.