Heavyweight champions Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury will have to take a 50% pay cut if their much-desired 2021 fight takes place in the UK and not the Middle East. 

Joshua faces Kubrat Pulev on Saturday in defence of his WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles.

Victory would all but ensure the fight that boxing fans globally have been dreaming of. 

Speaking on Wednesday’s talkSPORT Breakfast, Fury's promoter Frank Warren ensured all that remained were the pre-existing fights.

"We’ve been banging on about it now for a long time, since Tyson came back.

“Provided they come through their fights then I don’t see how anything can get in its way. I just can’t see it.

“I know that Tyson does [want it] and there should be nothing standing in the way of it providing they get through their two respective fights in December.”

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The pair have agreed on a 50-50 split in the first of their two arranged fights, with the winner of the second on the better end of what will be a 60-40 split. 

But, as desirable as it would be for the fight to take place in the home nation of both fighters, Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn concedes that there's significant financial difficulty in making that happen.

“We’re not in the same situation as many countries which have significant budgets to bring major sporting events to cities or to countries," said the Matchroom boss.

"We’re not also in a period where we should be asking the Government to provide that kind of help. They’ve got bigger things to worry about.

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“We have to rely on the revenue that could be generated from the fight, via the gate and not the revenue that could be generated by a tourism board or by a Government to bring an event like that to a country, so that’s why it’s always difficult.

“It will literally be probably a 50 per cent pay-cut to do the fight in the UK and that’s how brutal it is.

“If it was 10, 20 or 30 per cent you could have the argument but you’re literally going to make half the money to do it in the UK.”

Although Hearn continued to suggest the difficulty in fee is more likely to come down to Tyson than Joshua, the latter of which has earned significantly, his fighter still wouldn't be happy about the loss of half of the would-be purse.