How much does Canelo Alvarez earn?

Canelo Álvarez, born Santos Saul Álvarez Barragan, is a three-weight world champion boxer. Though his ginger locks can be deceiving, Álvarez comes straight from Guadalajara, Mexico. His signature hair color is what gave him the nickname since the word canela means cinnamon in English.

His first fight was back in October of 2005 where he defeated Abraham Gonzalez by TKO in the last round. Clearly, the Canelo Alvarez earnings from those early days are nothing in comparison to the millions he takes in now. However, that TKO set the tone for his career. Out of 55 fights, Álvarez has knocked out 35 of his opponents, which translates into 63% of the time. Not bad for a Golden Boy fighter.

Why He Earns So Much

Despite his moves in the arena, it wasn’t until 7 years later when he fought and won against legendary “Sugar” Shane Mosley that the boxing world started paying attention. Until that point, Mosley had been the most well-known opponent Álvarez had faced. That is until it was time for Álvarez to defend his title against famed “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather. Álvarez only made $5M that fight in comparison to Mayweather’s $41.5M, but he left a lasting impression on the audience. Even though he lost by decision, it marked the beginning of his stardom.

Next came the Puerto Rican, pound-for-pound people’s champion, Miguel Cotto. Cotto had already amazed fans with his bouts against Mayweather and Pacquiao, and this next fight would be no exception. Álvarez vs Cotto had astronomical ratings and garnered around 900,000 pay-per-view buys. For the first time in a long time, HBO was seeing profits in fights that did not star Mayweather or Pacquiao. Álvarez would set rating records again both times he went against Gennady “GGG” Golovkin. There were over one million pay-per-view buys for each fight.

Compared To Other Celebrities

Currently, Álvarez is the highest-paid boxer on Forbes 2019 World’s Highest-Paid Celebrities list. At the young age of 29, he comes in at a remarkable #10. Forbes states that the Canelo Alvarez earnings equal a cool $94M.

As impressive as those numbers are, Álvarez is actually not the highest-paid athlete on the list. That slot belongs to Lionel Messi, an Argentinian soccer player, whose earnings equal $127M.

Another boxer on the list is Anthony Joshua, who ranks #49, is on the list. Joshua has a contract with DAZN, a sports-centered video streaming service, which adds to his $55M in earnings. He also has more than a dozen other sponsors. Joshua was the heavyweight champion until Andy Ruiz Jr. stunned the boxing world by seizing that title earlier this year.

As of 2018, Canelo Álvarez will earn an estimated $33M per fight based on the contract he signed with DAZN. This is an increase from the approximate $25M he gained in each of his previous fights, also streamed on DAZN.

It is no wonder then that Canelo Alvarez’ earnings increased in the manner they did. He is a talented boxer that has taken his opponents to task, and he only has 1 defeat in his professional career. If you’re going to have a loss on your record, there is no shame in it being to “Money” Mayweather.