Anthony Joshua will rake in millions from his fight with Daniel Dubois tonight but will have to give a huge chunk away to the tax man
Anthony Joshua will earn millions for fighting Daniel Dubois at Wembley tonight – but will likely then have to hand over almost half in tax.
Joshua will attempt to become a three-time heavyweight champion, joining an exclusive club consisting currently of Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, Vitali Klitschko and Michael Moorer. And he will be well paid for his efforts, given his last two purses for fighting in the UK – for his wins over Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius – are believed to have been at least £10million.
Joshua is also reported to have earned up to £30m for his second-round KO of former UFC champion Francis Ngannou in March. But whatever he earns, he will have to cough up a large chunk of it to the tax man – as HMRC were quick to remind darts start Luke Littler after he earned £200,000 for reaching the World Darts Championship final.
“Big congrats to Luke on his fantastic run to the final,” a tweet from the government department read earlier this year. “We can confirm the existence of income tax.” Littler was expected to have to pay £83,000 of his winnings straight to the state, including income tax and national insurance.
At the time, Andrew Mangion, head of tax product at investment platform Saxo said: “Everybody needs to pay tax, no matter their age, and under 18s have the same personal allowance as adults. Normally children don’t work or if they do, their pay is generally under the tax free allowance. In this case, it’s rare for a teenager to come into so much money in one lump sum and we would advise him to take professional financial advice on how to best act on this.”
Joshua is understood to have a net worth of £180m and could take that over the £200m threshold tonight, whether he wins or loses against fellow Brit Dubois. And before be beat Franklin last year, Joshua admitted cash was his motivation. “Money, money, money. I like making money,” Joshua said about his motivation for facing Franklin.
“Straight up. This is a prizefighting sport. I’ve been broke, my family has been broke. I know what this s*** means. I do it because I’m good at it and I hustle hard. When it’s all said and done, nobody will give care about me anymore so I’ve got to make the most of it whilst I’m here.
“People will question where someone head is at, that’s one thing. I think waking up every day is just a normal everyday thing, you don’t think about it. So going to the gym for a fighter is just a normale everyday thing, so many fighters go to the gym every day. There’s a difference when you put your heart into it. I’ve had to get rid a lot of distractions so I can put my heart back into the game.”