Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua could generate the fourth-biggest gate in boxing history, with Dana White telling Sky Sports their December 11 fight in Cardiff is projected to bring in around $34 million. It is an extraordinary figure for a meeting arriving well after both heavyweights’ best years.
If that projection is reached, only Floyd Mayweather’s fights against Manny Pacquiao and Conor McGregor, and Canelo Alvarez’s meeting with Terence Crawford, would sit above it. The Crawford–Canelo event generated approximately $47.2 million last year.
Tickets for Fury–Joshua reportedly sold out in around an hour on Friday. Whatever doubts exist about the quality of the contest, there is little sign that those concerns have weakened demand for seats at Principality Stadium.
That is the strange appeal of this fight. Fury and Joshua spent years failing to meet when the sporting stakes would have been greater. Now, with both past their best, the event can still command prices and attention that most active champions could only hope to generate.
There is something of an exhibition-tennis feel to it: two familiar giants finally sharing the stage after the years when their meeting would have told us the most. The competitive question remains interesting, but beating each other now cannot recover the opportunity lost when both were closer to their peaks.
The audience appears willing to accept that. Their names, personalities, and long association with British heavyweight boxing have survived the deterioration in their performances. Buyers get to attend the fight they have discussed for years, even if they are getting older versions of the men they originally wanted to see.
A huge gate demonstrates how much money the event can generate. It does not establish how good the boxing will be.
That is where the promotion faces its harder job. The tickets have sold, but Fury and Joshua still need to produce a contest worthy of the occasion. A $34 million projection creates an impressive headline. It also raises expectations for two heavyweights whose fame now promises more than their recent boxing.