Defeated Anthony Joshua gets £20m, Andy Ruiz takes home £5m for winning

Andy Ruiz Jr might have produced one of the biggest upsets in heavyweight history on Saturday, but his pay cheque was distinctly lightweight, compared to Anthony Joshua’s. The Mexican stunned Britain’s WBA, IBF and WBO champion to shake up heavyweight boxing’s established order in dramatic style.

Ruiz is understood to have made only around £5m from the fight at New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden. Compare that to the whopping £20m Joshua is thought to have made and you see just how wide the gulf in class between these two boxers was supposed to be.

Despite taking home Joshua’s three belts, Ruiz was not even meant to be on the money list on Saturday night. He took the fight with just five weeks’ notice after Joshua’s original opponent Jarrell Miller failed three drugs tests in the build-up.

The cash is the largest purse of Ruiz’s career, but he can expect to earn a lot more than that in any rematch later this year. His previous biggest payday came in at a reported £770,000 for his defeat by New Zealand’s Joseph Parker in 2017