Given the money Fury earned for his two fights against Oleksandr Usyk in 2024, it would not be surprising if he pushed for a nine-figure payday.
That kind of demand would make more sense if Fury had recently beaten top-level heavyweights such as Fabio Wardley, Moses Itauma, or Agit Kabayel. But coming into a Joshua fight on a two-fight losing streak, it is harder to justify.
Neither Fury nor Joshua has beaten a top-tier heavyweight in several years, which has led some fans to question how much real sporting value the fight now carries beyond its name recognition.
“What will encourage Tyson is the financial aspect of it,” promoter Frank Warren told Sky Sports Boxing. “It’s all about the value of the fight. It’s a big fight, and it’s worth a lot of money. Tyson has his price. If he gets his price, he’ll fight him.”
Warren added that he believes Fury would beat Joshua and even predicted a knockout, saying Joshua is “not hard to hit.”
Joshua, meanwhile, has recently taken fights designed more to rebuild his profile than to test him at the top level, including bouts against crossover opponents. Fury has lost twice in a row, and many fans still believe he was fortunate to escape with a decision win against debutant Francis Ngannou in October 2023, a bout that was staged in Riyadh.
All of that has fed into the wider debate: how much the Fury–Joshua fight is really worth now, and whether the money being discussed still matches what either fighter can deliver in the ring.
