Boxing

Canelo Alvarez Dethroned As World's Highest-Paid Boxer

For the first time in years, Canelo Alvarez is not boxing's highest-paid fighter.

Grant Young

Canelo Alvarez during a September 27, 2023 press conference.
Canelo Alvarez during a September 27, 2023 press conference. / IMAGO / Hoganphotos

As soon as Floyd "Money" Mayweather retired from professional boxing, there was no doubt who would assume his role as the sport's top prize-fighter.

That was Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, who has cultivated a massive following throughout his 66-fight professional career. And through this following and his ability to deliver when the lights are brightest, Alvarez has earned a staggering amount of money; so much so that he has surely gotten used to being boxing's highest-paid superstar.

But that changed in 2024, as Sportico's list of the 100 Highest-Paid Athletes in the World shows that the $73 million Canelo made last year is third-most in the sport, behind Tyson Fury ($147 million, which is No. 3 overall across all sports) and Oleksandr Usyk ($122 million, No. 7 overall).

Canelo, who is No. 20 overall on the list, had been boxing's highest-paid fighter since 2021. 2024 is also the second-most he has made since 2021, only second to the $89 million he amassed in 2022.

Of course, the reason Fury and Usyk were in front of him last year is because they fought each other twice under the Riyadh Season banner.

These two mega-fights (both of which Usyk won) clearly earned both fighters a boatload of money.

Given the gigantic contract Canelo has signed with Turki Alalshikh as part of Riyadh Season, which guarantees him two fights in 2025 that are rumored to earn him around $100 million each, it seems likely that Alvarez will be back at the top of boxing in 2025.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Boxing, Women’s Basketball, and the New York Mets for On SI. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years, and he thinks it’s time that Canelo Álvarez fights David Benavidez.