O2 Battle: Joshua to pocket £10m against Franklin

Anthony Joshua will enter the ring this weekend as a contender, rather than a champion, for the first time since 2016 – and with that, his fight purse has drastically decreased.

The 33-year-old is fighting to save his career following a pair of devastating defeats to Oleksandr Usyk, who now holds Joshua’s former WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight belts, as he takes on Jermaine Franklin.

Joshua is the overwhelming favourite to prevail against his American counterpart, with a potential match-up against WBC champion and long-term rival Tyson Fury to follow – though how many times have we said that.

Remarkably, for a fighter used to selling out Wembley and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, there are still tickets available for the O2 Arena clash just two days out from the April 1 event.

And, unsurprisingly, Joshua is set to earn significantly less than in his rematch against Usyk, where he walked away with £32.5million, even in falling to defeat. Joshua earned around £15m for their first encounter, while in his rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019 he pocketed a massive £66m.

Against Franklin, though, Joshua will have to settle for around £10m, with no belts on the line and against a fighter involved in only one notable bout – a points defeat to Dillian Whyte in November last year.

The 6ft 6in heavyweight not only dwarfs his opponent in stature, but also in his fight purse, however, with the American reportedly set to earn around £800,000. That could rise to over £1m should he claim an upset victory, however.

Should Joshua emerge victorious and manage to seal a long-awaited bout against Fury, that £66m earned against Ruiz Jr could soon be eclipsed, even with the three defeats now sitting on his record.
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Of course, Joshua – who has over 25 million followers across Instagram, Facebook and Twitter – has other avenues of revenue, having earned millions through his commercial partnerships with the likes of Beats, Jaguar Land Rover, Under Armour and Hugo Boss.

The former champion also signed an exclusive deal with streaming platform DAZN last year, which will see him earn £100m over the course of five years with the company.