With Tyson Fury set to come up against Oleksandr Usyk after losing his first ever fight against the Ukrainian Heavyweight, the Mancunian boxer is reportedly on the way to ‘lose £29 million’ of his earnings from the fight.
Now, Fury is not exactly scrounging for pennies, as he earned a reported £85 million in his first fight with Usyk back in May, and £65 million for his tight exhibition match with former UFC champion Francis Ngannou.
Despite this though, no one would be overly pleased to find out they are supposedly set to leave almost £30 million on the table in their next fight.
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This is about half of his reported £60 million purse for the rematch, in which he will attempt to reclaim his WBC, WBA, WBO, and Ring Magazine titles.
Though Usyk became the first undisputed heavyweight champion in almost 25 years when he defeated Fury in their fight earlier this year, he has since relinquished the IBF Heavyweight title.
Usyk did this in order to allow a rematch with Fury rather than fight the mandatory challenger Daniel Dubois, who is the current holder of the title.
Now the context is set you will be asking, why is it that Fury is set to lose about half his earnings?
The answer, unsurprisingly, is an undefeated member of the boxing community - the taxman.
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According to data analysts with JeffBet, per the Manchester Evening News (MEN), Fury is set to pay 47% in taxes to His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. This is due to income tax and national insurance obligations when he returns to the UK, which will see just over £28 million of Fury's prize money be paid.
The data analysts told the MEN: "Good tax advice is always important and in this case you can be sure the Fury camp will have looked at an agreement that would be the most beneficial."
Based on the lead up to the fight, you would think that yesterday’s face-off was a staring contest, with the loser being forced to be the one who gave back the £29 million.
Usyk and Fury engaged in a nearly 11-minute stare-down that had to be separated.
When asked about the rematch, Fury said: “A little bit more focus if anything. More laser focus and not as much clowning. If I take them two things to the game-plan then that would be a bit more successful. There's not big margins here.
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"They only gave it to him by a point, [it could’ve been] a split decision either way, draw, whatever. So there's not massive things we could easily change.
“But how about this one? How about I took that 10-8 round away in round nine? It's not a draw anymore is it or a win by a point, it's a clear win. A little bit less fooling and a little bit more focus, laser focus and I should do the job."
How to watch Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk in the UK
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To watch Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk go head to head, there are three options:
1.) You can watch the rematch on DAZN with no subscription required. All you need to do is buy the PPV for £24.99 and you will automatically get a seven-day free trial which you can later cancel to stop the subscription from rolling over. You’ll be able to stream the match on a range of devices including PlayStation, Chromecast, and Smart TV. If you do decide to roll over your free trial, you’ll move onto a monthly plan costing £24.99 per month and get access to over 150 fights every year, with the option to cancel with 30 days’ notice.
2.) You can also tune in live on Sky Sports Box Office (Sky channel 491). The event is priced at £24.95 for Sky customers in the UK and €27.95 if you’re based in the Republic of Ireland. Sadly Sky does not offer free trials, but Sky subscribers can book the match here and if you’re new to Sky, you can sign up here.
3.) Finally, you can watch the fight on TNT Sports with a Prime Video subscription (free for the first month then £8.99/ month), provided you have discovery+ (from £3.99/ month) as part of your subscription. If you don't fancy shelling out, you can simply cancel your subscription after the first month.
Topics: Boxing, Money, Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury, Sport
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