Dubois set for immediate £600k blow after ‘fight of year’ vs Wardley | Boxing | Sport

Daniel Dubois is set to lose an estimated sum in excess of £600,000 after beating Fabio Wardley on Saturday evening due to UK tax laws. The heavyweight bruiser cruised to the WBO title with an 11th-round TKO at Manchester’s Co-Op Live – his third world championship in total, having previously held the WBA (Regular) and IBF belts.

It is thought that Dubois also pocketed in the region of a £1.3million payday for the bout, although ‘Triple D’ will not see that full amount. In the UK, anyone who earns over £125,140 annually is subject to the additional tax rate of 45 per cent. That means that £585,000 of Dubois’ purse will go straight to HMRC.

Additionally, the 28-year-old will be subject to two per cent National Insurance, a further £26,000 – taking his potential total loss to a staggering £611k. If the fight purse estimations are correct, then it means that the Briton will be left with £689,000 to play with.

However, the champion will also likely give a portion of this to his corner, trainers and gym, as is standard practice. Speaking after his victory over Wardley – which has widely been dubbed as fight of the year – Dubois said: “It was a war.

“We come through the sticky moments. It was a war. Thank you, Fabio, for that. Thank you.”

When asked what’s next for him, between the WBO’s mandatory challenger in Moses Itauma and a potential third fight with undefeated Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk, Dubois replied: “I want to grow from this fight, improve and come back even better and go on a reign as champion again.”

Elsewhere, Frank Warren was almost left at a loss for words by the action-packed headline bout. He said: “It was amazing. These two guys show such heart – both of them.

“Great heart, chins, it was an amazing fight. It was just absorbing, it had everything. Exciting. Best heavyweight fight I’ve ever put on.”

While there is a rematch clause embedded into the fight contract, Warren kept his cards close to his chest as to what the next move for Dubois is.