Fury vs Usyk set to surpass Joshua PPV record fee with price hike

Frank Warren has confirmed that boxing fans will have to pay a hefty pay-per-view fee to watch Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk. Fury leveled the record British PPV price in his last outing against Derek Chisora.

The £27.95 premium placed on the BT Sport event was the same as Anthony Joshua and Usyk’s record-setting rematch in August. Boxing’s industry standard for world-class cards had remained at £19.95 in recent years but like the cost of living, pay-per-view prices have skyrocketed as well causing questions to be asked about the sport’s accessibility.

When quizzed on the price of Fury vs Usyk and the process of setting a PPV price, Warren told talkSPORT: “It depends on what the structure of the deal is. If they [the broadcaster] put up some sort of guarantees, then they’re looking to recover their guarantees, which will determine the price.

“If there isn’t a guarantee and it’s done on a share basis, then again that determines what the price will be. The same as if Tyson would have fought Anthony Joshua, the price would go up. They are the two big money fights.”

@Alexand1813501 added: Taking p*** now these deffo gonna start steaming if does go up in price.”

@PaulStevens38 said: “We got to see the football World Cup for free, the greatest players on the world in the biggest matches Boxing is pure greed. Why do these guys expect to earn 50m for one fight? Rip off.”

Whilst @ChrisMurch1 made a worrying comparison to the extortionate PPV price points in the United States: “Friends of mine in the US pay over $100 for PPV events, it’s only a matter of time.”

Fury and Usyk are set to face each other for all four major sanctioning body belts on a date between February 18 and March 4. The Middle East is understood to be the location of choice, with Fury’s US promoter Bob Arum recently revealing that they are in talks with three Middle Eastern countries about the possibility of hosting the event.

Meanwhile, Wembley Stadium and Cardiff’s Principality Stadium have also been mentioned as potential backup options if a deal can’t be made overseas.