Anthony Joshua will reportedly get £10million paycheck from his heavyweight world title defence against Kubrat Pulev.

Gate receipts at Wembley’s SSE Arena has been limited to just 1,000 due to the coronavirus restrictions as part of the new regional tier system, but it won’t stop Joshua from earning the large sum in what will be his first fight in a year. The Telegraph reports that Kubrat Pulev will earn just £3m from the fight – £7m less than Anthony Joshua.

According to organisers, there are no set purses for the fight, and both men could exceed those figures with pay-per-view numbers expected to soar because of the lack of spectators allowed at the event. Speaking ahead of the fight, AJ said: ‘That’s what makes this fight so interesting. This year has just thrown every obstacle at us all.

‘I might go in there, I can tell you that I’m a million dollars, I feel good, I’ve been knocking everyone out in sparring. I’m the one that’s coming up now and I’m going to be the undisputed champ and I go in there on Saturday night and I [might] get my head punched in because I’ve got ring rust. Who knows?

‘But I feel good; I’m looking forward to it. I haven’t boxed in such a long time, but that’s why in lockdown I’ve done a lot of training, mental training. I’ve done a lot of sparring, getting my body tough again, getting punched up.

‘Sometimes sparring in my head I’m going to take this round off and let this boy punch me up because I need to get tough. I need to get that thick skin. That’s the closest way I can prepare and I hope it comes to fruition on Saturday.’

Pulev, whose world title challenge ended in a knockout defeat against Wladimir Klitschko in 2014, is confident of getting a victory when he takes on Joshua on Saturday, December 12.

‘With all due respect to Anthony Joshua, I don’t think he’s that good, nor do I think he’s invincible,’ Pulev said. ‘I have been born for this. Saturday is the most important day of my life.

‘This was my father’s dream for me to become a world champion. My father died when he was 80, before I had this chance. But he will be watching and I will make him proud.’