Joshua Doesn’t Think He’ll Make More Money Than Mayweather

By Keith Idec

It took Floyd Mayweather Jr. until his 38th fight to earn an eight-figure purse.

Once Mayweather made his first $10 million guarantee for facing Oscar De La Hoya in May 2007, he used it as a springboard to sustain superstardom and estimated career earnings of nearly $750 million. Anthony Joshua will earn his first eight-figure purse ($12.5 million) for just his 19th professional fight – a heavyweight title defense against Wladimir Klitschko on Saturday in London.

The IBF heavyweight champion is 27, three years younger than Mayweather was when the retired five-division champion defeated De La Hoya by split decision. As well as his career is going, the hard-hitting Joshua (18-0, 18 KOs) still doesn’t think it’s possible that he’ll earn more money from boxing than the legend nicknamed “Money.”

Joshua also said during a conference call Wednesday morning that he doesn’t think he’ll become the first fighter to eclipse $1 billion in boxing earnings.

“Not in boxing,” Joshua said. “I don’t think I’ll do it in boxing. Outside, if I make the right investments, I think I can [become a billionaire], because I’ve got some very highly intelligent people around me. But I think in boxing, I don’t think I will. But I think there will be a boxer who can because Floyd Mayweather definitely has set the benchmark, and records are only meant to be broken. So I think someone can definitely achieve that financial status.

“But for me, that’s not so much my goal – to be richer than Floyd Mayweather. The heavyweight division is so different from the welterweight division … in the sense that all it takes is one shot and it’s a lot tougher, a lot more wear and tear on the body. So I just think it’ll be interesting. But I definitely think we will make money. There’s no doubt about that. But I’m not trying to put myself on the same pedestal as Mayweather.”

Joshua made headlines recently when he told GQ for a magazine story that he plans to become boxing’s first billionaire and wants to make more than $100 million apiece for future fights. Even the mild-mannered Klitschko poked fun at Joshua for publicly expressing such ambitious goals.

The knockout artist from suburban London should earn more from his fight against Ukraine’s Klitschko (64-4, 53 KOs) than his $12.5 million guarantee once pay-per-view revenue and other income from the event is totaled.

A sellout crowd of roughly 90,000 is expected at Wembley Stadium on Saturday. Sky Sports will televise Joshua-Klitschko in the United Kingdom.

In the United States, Showtime will air the fight live, beginning at 4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT. HBO will replay Joshua-Klitschko at 11 p.m. ET/PT.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.