IBF heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua and 40-year-old Vladmir Klitschko have reportedly agreed to a fight on December 10. According to The Guardian, Joshua and Klitschko will be splitting up $36 million [£30m] for their fight.

With that kind of cash at stake, it’s not surprising that the faded Klitschko has chosen to put himself at a disadvantage by agreeing to fight Joshua in the United Kingdom rather than insisting on fighting in a neutral venue.

Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, is expected to make the announcement for the Joshua-Klitschko fight this week. One of the sticking points that has slowed up the negotiations was the HBO-Showtime angle. Joshua is under contract with Showtime, while Wladimir is with HBO. Hearn had to work all that out in order to get the fight put together.

It’s unclear whether both networks will televise the fight. As important as the match is, it’s hard not to believe that both networks will be airing the fight on December 10.

At 40, Wladimir clearly isn’t the top heavyweight in the division any longer. You can argue that Wladimir isn’t even the No.5 best heavyweight right now, as he’s lost a lot from his game.

You have to rate these heavyweights above Wladimir right now: Deontay Wilder, Joshua, Luis Ortiz, Joseph Parker and David Haye. However, Wladimir has the name recognition above the other heavyweights, so a fight between him and Joshua is going to be big despite him not being the heavyweight that he was 10 years ago or even two years ago.

This will be Joshua’s second title defense of his International Boxing Federation title that he won last April in defeating Charles Martin by a second round knockout.

In Joshua’s first defense, he beat #13 IBF fringe contender, Dominic Breazeale, by a seventh round TKO.