Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder would reportedly take massive paycuts from their previous clashes if their third fight goes ahead in New Zealand.
According to the Daily Mail, the blockbuster rematch between Fury and Wilder in February brought in more than $17m in gate receipts. With either New Zealand, Australia, China or Las Vegas tipped as venues for their third fight, it's expected gate receipts will go down in a post-Covid environment.
Fury's co-promoter Bob Arum told the Daily Mail that both fighters will take a hit in the pocket compared to their previous two match-ups.
"I don't think there's any question about it that Fury and Wilder will earn less than what they would have before the pandemic.
"For one, we don't know how this will effect pay-per-view buys and it's going to be difficult to replace what we had in gate receipts.
"We are funding and paying for all the measures too and it is extraordinarily expensive. We have minimums for fighters and in recent times we have been paying double and triple them for the fighters, but now we are going to have to adhere more closely to the minimums," Arum said.
Arum added that the fight must take place in front of spectators which would possibly help the chances of the fight taking place Downunder. By the end of the year the US and China may still have restrictions on crowds. While fans are welcomed to attend sporting events in New Zealand now that the country is in Level 1, while Australia could be a few weeks away from reintroducing large gatherings.
Arum then told NZME that New Zealand's move to Alert Level 1 has seen the attention shift.
"Dean told us that New Zealand is opening for sporting events with full spectator attendance and so he's exploring the possibility of doing an event in New Zealand," Arum said.
"It's a major opportunity ... [we're] just sorting it out, what can be done, where do we stand if we wanted to do these big events in New Zealand, let's figure it out."
Tyson Fury celebrating after defeating Deontay Wilder in their WBC heavyweight title bout. Photo / Getty
Wilder and Fury drew their first fight in Los Angeles in 2018, which ultimately ended in a controversial split draw.
England's Fury then destroyed American Wilder earlier this year to take the WBC world title in Las Vegas. Under the fight deal, Wilder has the right to a re-match, the so-called trilogy clause.
Should the fight be hosted New Zealand, Arum said it was likely to be in November or December and on a Sunday morning to accommodate US viewers.
He said the biggest issue they face is overseas spectators being able to attend.
"When Fury fought Wilder here in Vegas in February, about seven to eight thousand Brits came over and that's the backbone of the attendance," he said. "I don't know how many would be willing to go to New Zealand being quarantined for 14 days, so we'll have to see."
Arum said Macau is the other venue possibility, although if crowds are allowed back into American venues as pandemic restrictions are eased, Las Vegas would become the frontrunner.
