Eddie Hearn is making a bold prediction for the British heavyweight clash between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury by saying the two fighters will make “Mayweather money” for their fight undisputed match in the coming months.
It’s possible that IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) and WBC belt-holder Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) could walk away with $100 million+ for their clash, which is now the biggest fight in boxing.
The only thing that could result in the fighters making less than that kind of money is the pandemic, as many boxing fans might choose to wait until after the fight to watch it for free on Youtube or turn to illegal streams to see it on the night.
To make Mayweather money, the event organizers for the Joshua – Fury fight would likely need to price the match at $100 per household the way Floyd did for his contests against Manny Pacquiao and Conor McGregor.
Joshua and Fury are popular guys in the UK, but they don’t mean much to the average boxing fan.
Without either of them matched against American Deontay Wilder, their British clash might not resonate with the U.S fans. In other words, even if the match were priced at $100 on pay-per-view, it might not sell.
“It’s the biggest fight, the most lucrative fight, in boxing right now,” said Hearn to the AK & Barak Show on the Joshua vs. Fury match.
“Unquestionably, Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury could make Mayweather money, you know? And we haven’t seen Mayweather money since Mayweather,” said Hearn.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn needs a good undercard with American fighters on it if he wants to bring in the PPV buys from the States. If Hearn thinks that Joshua, 31, is a household name, he’s sourly mistaken,
Hearn has been resistant to putting in the work to build Joshua’s name brand by having him fight in the U.S, and it’s understandable why he’s chosen not to do this.
With Joshua bringing in massive crowds in the UK each time he fights, he would have lost all that money if he fought in the U.S for a couple of years to increase his popularity.
By not investing in building Joshua’s brand in America, he won’t be able to count on a ton of PPV buys for his fight against Fury.
The fight will still bring in good money from the hardcore boxing fans, but probably not anywhere near the kind of doubt that a typical Floyd Mayeather Jr fight used to bring in before he retired.
What Hearn needs to do to pump up the PPV sales is to put Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin on the Joshua vs. Fury undercard. If he can package a Joshua-Fury with a Canelo-Golovkinfight, it would be huge.