YouTuber vs Former World Champion: Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua to Shatter Records with $267m Pay
Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua will meet in one of boxing’s most unlikely — and most lucrative — match-ups on Saturday, with a reported purse of up to $267m (£200m) on the line.
The bout, which streams live on Netflix from Miami, pits a YouTuber-turned-boxer against a former two-time world heavyweight champion, with Joshua entering as a heavy favourite.
Joshua, 36, boasts elite victories over Wladimir Klitschko, Joseph Parker, Kubrat Pulev, Dillian Whyte and Alexander Povetkin. However, the Briton comes into the fight seeking redemption after suffering a brutal stoppage loss to Daniel Dubois in September 2024.
Paul, 28, enters the contest with a 12–1 professional record. The American last fought in June, outpointing former world middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, following a controversial but lucrative decision win over 58-year-old heavyweight icon Mike Tyson last November.
That fight reportedly earned Paul $40m and Tyson $20m.
This time, the financial stakes are significantly higher.
In the build-up to the bout’s confirmation in November, the Daily Mail reported that a prize pot of around £140m ($184m) had been proposed, to be split evenly between the fighters. However, Paul later suggested an even larger figure.
“Stop asking me. $267 Million,” Paul posted on X (formerly Twitter), implying a total purse of roughly £200m.
Even the lower estimate would rank among the richest payouts in boxing history. Accountant Oriana Morrison told The Independent on Tuesday: “Even if the lower figure — the rumoured $184m purse — is true, AJ could bring home $92m (£70m).
We haven’t seen a boxing match with a purse at this level since Mayweather vs Pacquiao in 2015 or Mayweather vs McGregor in 2017. It’s higher than any Saudi purse to date.”
Morrison added that the bout could mark a turning point for boxing’s commercial reach in the United States.
“The US never really got the chance to savour Anthony Joshua’s talent and charisma. This is the perfect setting for this fight and definitely a turning point for boxing in the US,” she said.
She also credited Paul and his promotional outfit, Most Valuable Promotions (MVP), with reshaping the sport’s business model.
“MVP and Jake Paul are dragging new audiences into boxing. They’re forcing boxing to modernise its promotion and pay fighters better than established promoters.”
Whatever the outcome in the ring, Paul vs Joshua is already poised to make history at the box office.
