Canelo Alvarez’s Most Lucrative Fight Wasn’t Against Floyd Mayweather
One of the biggest names in boxing is Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. But while Alvarez has amassed a considerable amount of impressive victories during his career, how has he done financially?
Being a boxer as successful as Alvarez can net you a considerable amount of money, though he’s taken his fair share of punishment to earn it. Let’s take a closer look at Alvarez’s career overall and what he’s made from some of his most infamous fights.
The life and career of Canelo Alvarez
According to BoxRec, in 56 career bouts, Alvarez has 54 victories, one loss, and two draws. Alvarez’s one loss came to Floyd Mayweather — one of the greatest boxers of all time. There’s no shame in losing to the best.
Alvarez is without a doubt the top draw in North America. Alvarez grew up in a family of eight as the youngest child. All of his brothers went into professional boxing — none as successful as their little brother, of course. Alvarez began his boxing at the age of 13 and turned pro two years later.
He currently holds the following titles:
- Unified WBA (Super)
- WBC middleweight champion
- Ring magazine and lineal middleweight champion
- Two-time WBC super-middleweight champion
- WBA super-middleweight champion
Canelo Alvarez’s most lucrative fights
Alvarez has been in high demand for much of his career. Here are some of his highest purses:
- “Sugar” Shane Mosely” — $1.2 million
- Josesito Lopez — $2 million
- Floyd Mayweather — $12 million
- Miguel Cotto — $5 million
- Amir Khan — $25 million
- Gennady Golovkin (first fight) — $40 million
- Gennady Golovkin (second fight) — $30 million
Alvarez’s two fights against Golovkin are his biggest earners by far. With a third fight in the future, Alvarez should be set up for another big payday.
There’s no denying Alvarez’s star power. But how much is he worth, financially speaking?
Estimated net worth
According to the website CelebrityNetWorth.com, Canelo Alvarez’s estimated net worth is around $120 million. Forbes estimates it at around $94 million, which puts him as the fourth highest-paid sports star in the world.
If you’re looking for an explanation for Alvarez’s massive net worth, the answer is simple: he’s a huge draw. Alvarez signed a $365 million deal with the streaming service DAZN in 2018 to broadcast his next 11 fights.
He’ll likely earn around $35 million per fight going forward. His most anticipated match will be the third fight against Golovkin, capping off their trilogy. The first two fights led to over a million pay-per-view buys, making them the first boxing matches held in the U.S. without the involvement of Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao to do so.
The third fight with Golovkin should be an absolute smash hit for Alvarez, but expect any fight of his to do massive numbers going forward. That’s sure to pad his already significant net worth even further.
Alvarez has “secured the bag” so to speak: his deal with DAZN ensured he’ll continue to be one of the highest-paid athletes of all time. Still in the prime of his career, Alvarez has nowhere to go but up.
He likely has at least three to five years left in his prime — and that’s a conservative estimate. Expect his fight and endorsement opportunities to continue to grow in the next few years.
