Anthony Joshua (22-1, 21 KOs) will take part in a rematch on Saturday against Andy Ruiz Jr. (33-1, 22 KOs) as a challenger, but he will earn that kind of money, which he didn't even dream of being a unified heavyweight champion. And this probably explains the choice of Saudi Arabia as a place of their second meeting.
The Mexican will also receive the highest purse in his career, but, interestingly, he will earn six times less than his opponent. True, He has no reason to complain about.
On June 1st The Destroyer rose up from the floor of the ring to send the Englishman four times to the floor and stop him in the seventh round. Thus, he got the belts in the royal division by IBF, WBA and WBO. Ruiz had to give a rematch, because in the contract for the first fight he was forced to accept the conditions imposed upon him by a champion. After that fight, he will be free from his obligations to Matchroom Boxing, but for Saturday, he will receive $13 million.
At the same time, Joshua after calculating all sums from different sources should get about $85 million. Only Floyd Mayweather Jr. earned more than Joshua in the ring.
Joint income of the participants of the main fight in Saudi Arabia boxing evening will be $98 million. It is the fourth largest payout for boxers in history. In this list, fights with Mayweather occupy the first three places.
Interestingly, that if the duel took place on the Welsh Stadium in Cardiff, as originally planned, Joshua purse would be 55 million, and Ruiz's would be 9 million. Consequently, they are both were easy to agree to a new place of the battle.
