Joshua vs Jake Paul bout tops 2025 boxing earnings with $267m purse

Anthony Joshua’s blockbuster showdown with Jake Paul in Miami emerged as the highest-earning boxing fight of 2025, generating a combined purse of $267m.

The December contest at the Hard Rock Stadium ended in emphatic fashion, with the British heavyweight stopping the YouTube star-turned-boxer in the sixth round. Despite its massive financial success and global attention, the bout ranked second overall in impact behind the Terence Crawford versus Canelo Alvarez super-fight, based on a detailed assessment by betting company Betsson.

Crawford’s September clash with Alvarez topped the list with a final score of 94 points, driven by 1.5 million online searches and a crowd of 70,400, although its purse stood at $200m. Joshua’s fight with Paul followed closely, pulling in two million searches and an attendance of 19,600 to earn 90 points and second place.

Betsson’s rankings were determined using a combination of online searches, live attendance, total purse and an overall impact score to identify the year’s most significant boxing events.

Oleksandr Usyk’s rematch against Daniel Dubois finished third with 76 points, producing 135,000 searches, the highest attendance of the year at 90,000, and a $200m purse. Chris Eubank Jr’s long-anticipated bout with Conor Benn placed fourth with 38 points, while Katie Taylor’s trilogy fight against Amanda Serrano and Manny Pacquiao’s contest with Mario Barrios completed the top six, each recording 10 points.

“Search volume, attendance and purse data were collected from Google Keyword Planner, the World Boxing Association website and major sports publications,” the report read in part.

“These metrics were weighted and indexed to rank the year’s biggest fights from largest to smallest. Where figures were not publicly available, values may be estimates and may not reflect real life.”

Joshua’s successful return to the ring came after his September 2024 defeat to Dubois at Wembley Stadium. The 36-year-old’s victory over Paul was his first since reclaiming momentum in his career.

However, the former two-time world heavyweight champion was involved in a fatal car crash in Nigeria on December 29, just 10 days after the Miami fight, which claimed the lives of his close friends Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele.