Anthony Joshua is set to forfeit a substantial chunk of his fight earnings to tax authorities following his knockout victory over Jake Paul in their blockbuster heavyweight bout in Miami.
The British boxing star stopped the YouTuber-turned-fighter in the sixth round on Friday night at the Kaseya Center, flooring Paul before the referee intervened to end the contest.
While the stoppage sealed a dominant win, Joshua later admitted his display was not without flaws.
Reflecting on the fight in an interview with talkSPORT, the former two-time unified heavyweight champion said he understood any criticism directed at him for allowing the bout to last six rounds.
“I deserve it,” Joshua said. “Because we are elite fighters, if I put myself in the shoes of a coach and my fighter went six rounds with Jake Paul, I’d get him straight back in the gym. I’d be asking, ‘How are you letting this kid take you six rounds?’
“But I can’t go back in time. Credit to him, he did well. I told him what would happen — it just took six rounds to do it.”
Joshua and Paul reportedly split a prize pool of about £137 million from the Netflix-streamed contest, earning roughly £68.5 million each.
The fight was stopped at 1:31 of the sixth round by referee Christopher Young, after the pair had spent a combined 989 seconds in the ring — translating to around £69,000 per second or more than £4 million per minute for Joshua.
However, the Watford-born boxer will not take home the full sum. As a UK resident who competed in the United States, Joshua is subject to taxation in both jurisdictions.
According to figures released by AceOdds, approximately 37 per cent of his earnings — an estimated £25.6 million — will go to the US Internal Revenue Service.
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Although Florida does not impose state income tax, the fight’s location on American soil makes Joshua liable for federal income tax at the top rate.
In addition, he is expected to pay about £5.5 million in UK income tax to HM Revenue and Customs, alongside roughly £1.4 million in National Insurance contributions. Altogether, his total tax bill is projected to be around £32 million.
Despite the staggering figures involved, Joshua maintained that financial reward was not his main reason for taking the fight.
“It’s not even my biggest payday; it’s not about money,” he said. “For me, it was about the opportunity. I had to showcase my skills to the world.”