If you get a call from Saudi Arabia and a certain His Excellency Turki Alalshikh wants you to put on a show for the fans, you are in luck. Why? Fighting under the banner of Riyadh Season means only one thing—huge paychecks. The higher you go in the hierarchy, the heavier are the money bags. The same could be said about Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury 2. But there is an issue. Reports of both fighters bagging huge paydays have been making the rounds on the internet. However, the reality might be a bit different.

Usyk, 37, will try to defend his unified championship when he faces Fury, 36, this Saturday at the Kingdom Arena. For their efforts and merely walking into the ring, they have been supposedly promised a combined purse of $190 million. The split is 60-40 in Usyk’s favor. While Usyk will bag a larger share of $114 million, Fury will take home $76 million. Interestingly, not only is the amount the highest guaranteed payout ever for a rematch, it’s also the highest payout for a heavyweight division match excluding the other revenue share.

But according to Dan Rafael, that’s not the case. When an infographic about the fight purse was shared on the X, the boxing journalist took to the comment section to debunk it. He wrote, “Not a record purse guarantee.”

More recent reports continue to call the $190 guaranteed price the highest because other higher earning fights, such as Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao and ‘Money’s fight with Conor McGregor, had even bigger payouts, but only after including the PPV and gate revenue. However, Fury might only be able to take almost half of his $76 million share. Why is that?

Tyson Fury: richer because of Oleksandr Usyk fight but not so

JeffBet recently explained how Fury would have to part ways with $37 million of his paycheck. Why? The UK’s income tax and national insurance policy demand a higher cut on foreign earnings. As the fight is hosted in Riyadh, the tax percentage levied on the Manchester native will be higher. This will result in an outflow to His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, along with National Insurance.

A spokesperson from JeffBet summed up the situation: “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.”

In addition, there is no clarity on whether the same applies to the revenue share from PPV buys or live gate. Regardless of it all, Fury has set his eyes on exacting revenge for his first career loss and taking back the titles. What if he fails? He will remain a lucrative face to book some notable fights, such as Anthony Joshua, but talks of straightaway retirement couldn’t also be dismissed.

What do you make of this coming fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury? Who do you think will leave the arena with a win? Let us know in the comments below.