The complication is Joshua’s existing agreement. Eddie Hearn has maintained that Joshua signed for the fight to take place in Britain. Oliver backed up that point before questioning what would be required financially to alter those terms.
“So, AJ is now saying, ‘Well, I signed a contract for this.’ So, are we talking more money? What are we talking? Are we talking about redoing contracts?” Oliver said on talkSPORT.
Joshua has every reason to seek compensation if he’s being asked to walk away from Wembley. His side agreed to one version of the event. Netflix and the people financing the fight now want another.
Joshua’s purse has been estimated at around £100 million, although no official figure has been announced. If the actual number is anywhere near that neighborhood, this is already an extraordinarily expensive fight.
If Joshua were to seek another 50 percent, much less attempt to double an already enormous payday, Netflix would eventually have to decide whether the improved US broadcast window justified the additional cost. This is not the fight it would have been five years ago.
Both men are near the end of their careers, and their rivalry has always carried considerably more importance in Britain than in the United States. American boxing fans know both names, but that doesn’t make Joshua-Fury a monster US attraction. Wembley also creates a scheduling problem for Netflix.
Oliver connected the New York push to Netflix, the global audience and more attractive broadcast timing. Holding the fight late at night in Britain gives American subscribers an earlier viewing window, reducing the value of an already difficult US sell.
Madison Square Garden gives Netflix an American prime-time event. That has obvious commercial value.
If Joshua demands an enormous increase to surrender Wembley, Netflix would be paying him more to move the fight to America, partly because keeping it in Britain reduces its value to American viewers.
Joshua has leverage because Netflix wants New York. He cannot confuse that with Netflix needing Joshua-Fury at any price.
Greed could become the undoing if Joshua overplays his position. He’s entitled to protect the deal he signed, but attempting to extract too much from the venue change risks forcing Netflix to reconsider the economics of a nostalgic fight involving two aging former champions. The shrinking promotional window creates another concern.
Ade Oladipo questioned how a November fight can remain unannounced with only around three months available to promote it. Oliver believes confirmation will arrive within 14 days and possibly sooner.
Britain doesn’t need three months to understand Joshua-Fury. American viewers are a different proposition.
If Netflix is going to spend heavily to put this fight in New York, it needs enough time to convince its US subscribers that two aging British heavyweights settling a rivalry years after its peak is still worth watching.
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