‘No excuses’ – Tyson Fury offers Anthony Joshua huge 40 per cent of fight purse to seal biggest bout in British history
TYSON FURY has offered Anthony Joshua 40 PER CENT of the fight purse to seal a historic Battle of Britain.
Undefeated WBC champion Fury has thrown the former WBA, IBF and WBO titleholder a bone with the offer of a winter clash.
A showdown under the roof at Cardiff’s Principality stadium in mid-late December might have made sense, especially if the pair could do record-breaking pay-per-view numbers.
But 34-year-old Fury’s promoter Frank Warren has now revealed the fight offer they have made is for a November showdown, giving AJ little more than two months to recover from his August 20 loss to Oleksandr Usyk and prepare for the biggest fight in British boxing history.
Warren told : "This is a voluntary defence and AJ has been a world champion so there should be no problem in making the fight.
"I think the terms we are sending are very fair.
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"We are being very fair, if they want to publicise the offer everyone will be very shocked."
AJ is set to receive a 40 per cent split of what will be the biggest purse in the history of British boxing.
That's 10 per cent more than he would've got if he was a mandatory challenger or ranked in the WBC's top-15.
Joshua isn't ranked by the WBC, so Fury will have to cherry-pick him, with special permission from the Mexican sanctioning body, to make the long-awaited domestic dust-up happen.
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Dillian Whyte was beaten by Fury in April but he had already been roughed up in the courtroom after losing his fight for more than a harsh 20 per cent cut of their 94,000 Wembley sell-out.
The Body Snatcher had been the WBC’s silver, diamond and interim champion and was the mandatory challenger.
Yet he was forced to accept just a slither of a slice of the tickets and PPV pie.
AJ, however, is looking at a significantly better purse than his old rival - despite being on a two-fight losing streak.
The Watford warrior's undoubted status as a boxing superstar and his two-time reign as WBA, IBF and WBO king would smooth the path for him to get the fight.
Joshua would've faced an uphill battle to receive more than a 20 per cent cut of the purse had Team Fury not been so generous.
The WBC rule books states:
Champions shall defend their titles, either in a voluntary or mandatory defense, against a challenger (each, a “Qualified Challenger”) in one of the following categories:
(a) any of the top ten rated contenders; or
(b) with the approval of or ratification by a majority of the Board of Governors,
i. any boxer rated 11 to 15;
ii. a champion or a highly-rated boxer of another weight division;
iii. another WBC champion, such as a WBC Diamond or Silver Champion,
Champion Emeritus, or Champion in Recess;
iv. a former world champion or other elite challenger;
v. a champion of another boxing organization recognized by the WBC; or
(c) under special circumstances and with the approval of or ratification by two-third
(2/3rd) of the Board of Governors, a contender not otherwise listed in one or more of the above categories.
3.4 Voluntary Defenses. In order to fulfill their requirement to defend the title regularly in a timely manner, champions shall propose voluntary defenses against Qualified Challengers as defined above.
No bout shall qualify as a voluntary defense other than as permitted by the WBC in accordance with these Rules & Regulations or any WBC rulings.
In terms of finances, the handbook goes on to outline how AJ is facing a fight to get a decent deal.
2.17 Division of Proceeds in a Purse Offer. The net purse shall be divided as follows:
(a) 70% for the champion and 30% for the challenger in title bouts; and
(b) 50% to each contender in the case of vacant titles or elimination bouts;
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The WBC Board of Governors, may by a majority vote, authorize a modification of the division of purse offer proceeds between boxers in a purse offer in unusual or special cases, such as consideration of outstanding marketing value of one of the boxers, as the WBC shall determine in its sole discretion.
The modification of the split shall be limited to 60-40% and 55-45%, except in the most exceptional circumstances, in which the split may be modified to 50-50%.