Earlier this year, former 140 lbs boxing champion Amir Khan (31-3, 19 KOs) turned down a massive payday to fight IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (36-0, 25 KOs) at London’s Wembley Stadium. From a financial standpoint, it turned out to be a good decision, as Khan’s May 7th fight with WBC middleweight (160 lbs) champion Canelo Alvarez will result in an eight-figure payday for the Brit.
A report from Chris McKenna of The Daily Star (via BoxingScene) notes that Khan is set to make $13 million US, which includes both his guaranteed purse (of which that total hasn’t been revealed) and UK television money from BoxNation, who are screening the fight instead of Sky Box Office. The last time a British boxer earned that much for a title fight was David Haye, who pocketed just under $15 million for his eventual loss to Wladimir Klitschko back in 2011.
Khan has never headlined a US-based pay-per-view in his career, although he was on the Mayweather vs. Maidana I undercard back in May 2014. Here are his listed purses — like with MMA, we’re not including percentage splits with managers, sponsorship deals, money from TV deals, etc. — for his last 5 US-based bouts:
vs. Chris Algieri (May 2015, Spike) – $1.5 million
vs. Devon Alexander (December 2014, Showtime) – $950,000
vs. Luis Collazo (May 2014, Showtime PPV) – $1.5 million
vs. Carlos Molina (December 2012, Showtime) – $1 million
vs. Danny Garcia (July 2012, HBO) – $950,000
Even factoring in UK TV rights + sponsorship pay, Khan hasn’t come close to $13 million for a single fight leading up to the Canelo showdown, which will be contested at a 155 lbs catchweight, with Canelo’s middleweight title on the line. It’s certainly an unexpected move for Khan to be moving up from 147 lbs to 155, but the underdog’s HBO PPV debut will be his biggest payday to date.
There aren’t any details yet on what Canelo is reported to be making. For his fight against Miguel Cotto last November, his NSAC-listed purse was $5 million, but that didn’t include PPV points or his Mexican TV deal with Azteca. Official purses will be released later this week.
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