Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul’s boxing showdown in Miami last month generated the highest combined purse in 2025, raking in $267m as the British heavyweight’s sixth-round knockout victory, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The December encounter at the Hard Rock Stadium, which saw Joshua stop the YouTube star-turned-boxer, finished second overall behind the Terence Crawford vs Canelo Alvarez blockbuster in terms of overall impact, according to a comprehensive breakdown by Betsson.
Crawford’s clash with Alvarez in September topped the rankings with a final score of 94 points, benefiting from 1.5 million searches and an attendance of 70,400, though the fight purse was lower at $200m.
Joshua vs Paul attracted two million searches and an attendance of 19,600, earning a final score of 90 points to finish as the second-biggest fight of the year.
The data compiled by Betsson was broken down by searches, attendance, purse and final score to determine the year’s biggest boxing matchups.
Oleksandr Usyk’s rematch with Daniel Dubois finished third with a final score of 76 points, generating 135,000 searches and the highest attendance of 90,000. The fight also carried a $200m purse.
Chris Eubank Jr’s long-awaited clash with Conor Benn came fourth with 38 points, while Katie Taylor’s trilogy fight with Amanda Serrano and Manny Pacquiao’s bout against Mario Barrios rounded out the top six with 10 points each.
“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.
Joshua sustained minor injuries in the accident and has since returned to the United Kingdom. His uncle, Adedamola Joshua, exclusively told PUNCH Sports Extra that the boxer has decided to retire from boxing following the tragedy.
