£50m clash will smash cash records

ANTHONY JOSHUA v Wladimir Klitschko will pulverise the record for the biggest grossing fight on British soil — and see the largest boxing purse ever in this country.

Carl Froch’s win over George Groves at Wembley Stadium in 2014 had set the marks, with takings of £22.3m and prize cash of £10m.

But next weekend is certain to outstrip those figures by huge margins, with income from the fight expected to be close to £40m — and perhaps nudge towards £50m if the highest estimates of pay-per-view (PPV) buys materialise.

The paydays for the pair will depend on the final take but they can expect to split £30m.

The fight is a 90,000ticket sellout, and will gross around £12m from seat sales. The cheapest seats have been sold at a face value of £40 while the most expensive ‘ordinary’ (nonhospitality) seats at ringside were £2,000.

The biggest single source of income will be domestic PPV sales at £19.95 each. One million buys are expected at least, which would bring almost £20m, although some forecasts reckon 1.5m fans could pay to watch on TV, which would bring almost £30m.