ANTHONY JOSHUA’S £42million (
$53 mln) blockbuster against Wladimir Klitschko will be the richest fight ever staged in Britain.
The IBF heavyweight champion will face the 40-year-old Ukrainian, with the vacant WBA title also on the line, at Wembley Stadium on April 29.
And the clash will smash the previous record of £22m for a fight on UK soil set by the rematch between Carl Froch and George Groves in 2014.
Joshua, 27, will also earn eight figures in one night for the first time in his career for what will be his third defence of the IBF title after he stopped American Eric Molina on Saturday night.
Froch v Groves set the post-war attendance record for boxing when 80,000 watched their IBF and WBA super-middleweight bout at Wembley.
But Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn is confident of getting permission from the Mayor of London and Brent council to get
90,000 in for
April 29.
That will generate at least £8m while the UK pay-per-view record is also expected to be shattered.
Floyd Mayweather’s mega clash with Manny Pacquiao last year was bought by 1.15m people on Sky Sports Box Office.
Ricky Hatton’s fight with American superstar Mayweather brought in figures of 1.05m while Froch against Groves totalled 800,000 buys on the same channel.
But those close to making Joshua against Klitschko happen believe it can do 1.5m buys – which would bring in a whopping £25.4m at £16.95 per purchase.
Broadcaster RTL will also pay £4m for the rights to show the fight on German TV.