Anthony Joshua might have walked away from Miami with a stunning victory over Jake Paul, but it turns out the taxman is about to take a massive bite out of his earnings.
Research from AceOdds shows the British heavyweight faces a whopping tax bill of nearly £33m from his £70m share of the fight purse.
While the exact figures haven't been officially confirmed, reports suggest both fighters split a combined £140m pot from their December clash at the Kaseya Center in Florida.
That makes it the most lucrative bout of Joshua's entire career so far.
Anthony Joshua landed a big win over Jake Paul and earned a boatload in the process
|REUTERS
As a UK resident fighting on American soil, Joshua finds himself caught between two tax systems.
The IRS gets first dibs on his earnings, and they're not shy about it.
With the United States charging income tax at a top rate of 37 per cent, the American taxman will pocket a staggering £25.9m from Joshua's purse.
Florida doesn't have state income tax, which is a small mercy, but the federal government's cut is still eye-watering.
Anthony Joshua's knockout punch on Jake Paul has quickly gone viral
|REUTERS
Because the bout took place in Miami, Joshua has no choice but to settle up with Uncle Sam before anything else gets sorted.
But Joshua's tax headaches don't stop there.
Being a British resident means he's also on the hook for UK tax on his worldwide income, charged at the top rate of 45 per cent.
The good news is he won't pay the full whack twice – HMRC only takes the difference between what he'd owe here and what he's already handed over to the Americans.
That still leaves him facing a bill of £5.6m heading straight to the British taxman.
And there's more – National Insurance contributions add another £1.4m to the pile, bringing his total UK obligations to around £7m.
Netflix and chill. pic.twitter.com/khb1yxFjiW
— Anthony Joshua (@anthonyjoshua) December 20, 2025
When all the payments are totted up, Joshua walks away with £37.1m in his pocket.
That sounds like a fortune, but it's actually just 53% of what he earned in the ring.
To put the UK portion in perspective, the £5.6m heading to HMRC alone could cover the wages of 229 entry-level NHS nurses, 167 trainee firefighters in London, or 150 workers earning the average UK salary of £37,430.
Anthony Joshua's record-breaking purse took a hit
|REUTERS
It's a brilliant payday by any measure, but nearly half of Joshua's record-breaking purse will never make it to his bank account.