Heavyweight stars Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder have all made the Forbes Celebrity 100 list of 2020 for the world’s top money earners.
Fury leads the way at number 34 in the list after amassing $57million in the 12 months, of which Forbes believes $50million came in the ring and $7million via endorsements. It says around $26million of his ring earnings came for that stunning rematch demolition of Wilder in Las Vegas in February.
Joshua meanwhile racked up $47million in earnings to place at 57 on the list, with Forbes saying $36million came from his rematch victory over Andy Ruiz Jr in Saudi Arabia in December 2019.
That fight not only saw AJ regain his IBF, WBA and WBO world heavyweight titles, it also smashed the UK pay-per-view record with 1.6million households paying £24.99 each for the bout on Sky Sports Box Office.
Joshua of course is also a marketing man’s dream, having relationships with a string of blue-chip brands including Under Armour, Jaguar Land Rover, Beats, Sky Sports and Hugo Boss. Only in the last few days he released a new clothing range with BOSS.
Wilder is not far behind AJ and sits at 59 on the list. His earnings are estimated at $46.5million with $25million coming for the rematch defeat by Fury. That was the biggest payday of his career so far.
If COVID-19 subsides enough to allow it, the three pillars at the top of the heavyweight division could still potentially earn even more in the next 12 months despite the carnage caused by the pandemic.
Fury and Wilder are due to meet in a trilogy fight later this year – hopefully on Saturday December 19, though a venue has yet to be confirmed with crowds still not allowed back into Las Vegas venues.
Joshua meanwhile will face Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev at London’s O2 Arena a week earlier on Saturday December 12, with his IBF, WBA and WBO belts all on the line.
Should Fury and Joshua both emerge victorious, all roads then lead to them meeting in the biggest fight in British boxing history next summer. It would likely smash all domestic pay-per-view records with a potential joint broadcast between Sky and BT Sport.
The fight of course would also likely smash their existing highest purses, and be the biggest payday of both their careers.
Fury and Joshua have at least in principle agreed the financial structure for a two-fight deal. The first bout would be an equal 50-50 revenue split with the rematch awarding a 60-40 share to the winner.
Kardashians star Kylie Jenner tops the list with earnings for the year of $590million while the top five includes three sports stars – tennis ace Roger Federer ($106.3million) and footballers Cristiano Ronaldo ($105million) and Lionel Messi ($104million).
