JEFF POWELL: As Tyson Fury banks an ‘obscene’ £100m for this fight, pity greats such as the Brown Bomber who died penniless

Eyebrows are being raised here and around the boxing world at the generational fortune that will bankroll Tyson Fury for Saturday night’s fight against Oleksandr Usyk, which will determine the ring legend as the first undisputed world heavyweight champion of the four-belt era.

Eyes turn green with envy not just among the fighting brotherhood, but among millions across the planet when it is revealed that the Gypsy King is guaranteed £81.5 million for his bid to join Lennox Lewis as the sole heavyweight holder of all available world titles.

Obscene is one of the derogatory terms used when Fury’s promoters predict that once pay-per-view counting houses announce their returns, his purse will soar well beyond £100 million.

This day, 13,000 miles from the shifting sands of Saudi Arabia, it’s Joe Louis Day in the Nevada desert.

The Brown Bomber’s memory is being served on the Las Vegas Strip with raised glasses, presentations for the Louis family, sepia film screenings of the best of his in-ring performances and eulogies from the greats of American boxing.

Could the timing be more excellent? No. Although perhaps not in the way many want to get pregnant. Louis, who remains one of the top two heavyweights alongside Muhammad Ali, had to turn to charity to end his years in even modest comfort after collapsing virtually penniless on a New York City sidewalk.

The bitter and resentful will use this coincidence of dates as a straw to beat Fury with. An excuse to vent to a man whose extravagant showmanship they abhor and have no tolerance for his extraordinary triumph over the trials of his bipolar condition.

On a more rational note, the massive gulf between Louis and Fury’s financial circumstances marks a final, welcome, long-awaited end to the era that left even the most heroic prizefighters in trouble.

Joseph Louis Barrow was born in 1914 in LaFayette, Alabama. Twelve years later, to escape the increasing threats of the Ku Klux Klan, the family and eight children moved from the Deep South to Detroit. Hence the statue of a giant fist that stands in the center of Motor City.

The raw instinct to fight his way out of poverty led Louis to the longest reign as world champion in any weight class. Twenty-two years, no less. That included 25 consecutive successful world title defenses, also a record. All as the undisputed holder of the then NYSAC, NBA and Ring magazine belts.

For which he was rewarded by being robbed of most of his pockets – including those of the massive crowd of New Yorkers at Yankee Stadium and a packed Madison Square Garden – by predatory, shameless, parasitic managers and promoters. And by the ruthless US tax authorities, who demanded up to 90 percent of his entire income, even before all those who complied.

So much for volunteering in the military during World War II and using his enormous popularity in the US to raise significant funds for the armed struggle against Hitler’s forces.

When Louis retired for the first time, he received a half-million dollar tax bill out of the blue. Even after donations from friends, the shortage still carried the implicit threat of imprisonment. The IRS and government pressured him to make a comeback, on the condition that he forfeit his $100,000 purse for fighting Rocky Marciano.

So nothing to take on at the age of 38 with this younger, stronger, brutal puncher who remains the only heavyweight champion of the world to retire undefeated. Marciano, under pressure from his own connections, agreed, but said, “This is the last fight I want.” He did his best to limit the inevitable punishment with an early knockout, but Louis out of professional pride lasted eight rounds before being knocked through the ropes.

Rocky cried as he went to the big man’s locker room and said, “I’m sorry, Joe.” To which Louis replied, “What’s the point of crying? Everything happens for the better.’ In his case, get the tax man off his game.

What followed that final battle was sad to see. A grotesque match as a wrestler. Decreasing celebrity appearances. Failed companies. Well-wishers helped. One with a motorized wheelchair in which he was taken to ringside for big fights at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to collect donations from high rollers.

Tyson Luke Fury was born in Wythenshawe in 1988 into a family of travelers of Irish descent. Although he would never claim to have endured such harrowing hardships as Louis, it was a difficult start to life for a boy who weighed only a pound at his premature birth and was not expected to live. He then left school as a child at the age of 11 to work for the family, working with his father and three brothers laying asphalt on roads.

He learned to fight around campfires. Baroquenuckle. After growing into a 6-foot-1 giant, he defeated Wladimir Klitschko to win his first world titles. To which he commented: ‘Becoming world heavyweight champion is not as difficult a fight as proving your Irishness.’

Despite all the scandalous antics and the turbulence of his career, no one has the right to criticize as he heads into his biggest fight, against Usyk – a fight of the most historic importance in boxing in the 25 years since Lewis won the then three-belt undisputed heavyweight crown.

It’s not his fault he makes many times more than Joe Louis. Nor can the Gypsy King be blamed because the brown bomber was driving a sedan he was given as a gift, while Fury’s most notable indulgence of his wealth is a Rolls-Royce or three in his luxury fleet.

Louis strengthened American sentiment against the Nazis by winning his return battle with German arch-enemy Max Schmeling, which also dealt an early blow to racism in America. Fury has broken the glass ceiling above which the sharks robbed honest fighters. By helping boxing tap into Saudi wealth, he is taking less celebrated undercard boxers into a new, enriching era.

And in the end, the Gypsy King and the Brown Bomber risk the same ending. Louis died at the age of 66 from a heart attack attributed in part to the rigors of prizefighting. Fury is aware that his epic trilogy with the huge blow will probably have cost Deontay Wilder years of his life. Just like tomorrow night when he and Usyk will have an uphill battle.

Schmeling, as the champion who didn’t fall prey to the IRS, helped pay for Louis’ funeral in Vegas. When Fury does meet his maker – hopefully many years from now – he will at least leave behind a family more than able to cover the costs of his departure.

Fury v Usyk will be broadcast live on television late on Saturday evening TNT Sports Cash Register.