Tyson Fury is expected to earn around $85 million for his anticipated rematch against heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk later today (Sat., Dec. 21, 2024) LIVE on DAZN pay-per-view (PPV) from inside Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but “Gypsy King” will forfeit nearly half those earnings to income taxes and national insurance when he returns home.
Saturday’s main event rematch is expected to draw in big crowds for the last major event of 2024. Because of this, Fury and Usyk stand to split a massive pot worth $190 million in payouts. Fury had earned roughly 70 percent of the purse when the two boxers first fought back in May, but now he stands to walk away with 45 percent coming off a loss to Usyk. That’s still about $85 million in salary alone.
Unfortunately for Fury, he’s going to have to cough up about $35 million of that money when he returns home to the United Kingdom. This is according to a recent report by The Mirror, which took information from data analyst JeffBet. Once Fury travels back from fighting in Saudi Arabia he’ll need to pay about 47 percent of his earnings to His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.
“If you are a resident in the UK you have to pay tax on overseas earnings in the same way, and that remains the same no matter how much someone might earn,” a JeffBet spokesperson said.
“Good tax advice is always important and in this case you can be sure the Fury camp will have looked at an agreement that would be the most beneficial.”
While fighters are always paying taxes wherever they fight, this seems a little egregious. Making $85 million for a half hour of fighting is incredible in its own right, but paying $35 million in taxes from that money earned is downright insane. Of course, Fury had to pay about $47 million following this same tax structure when he banked $100 million for his first clash with Usyk earlier this year.
For more boxing news and notes click here.