It looks like Canelo Alvarez may smash through his highest career purse this weekend in Las Vegas.
The Mexican superstar has been one of the highest paid athletes in the world for some time now.
While Alvarez has taken home some huge purses in the past, even in defeat, it’s looking like September 13 will be the biggest payday of his career by some distance.
That’s not necessarily surprising when you consider the parties that have put this fight together and the fact that he’s facing one of boxing’s other top stars, Terence Crawford.
While both men are in contention to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, the pay gap between Alvarez and Crawford is enormous.
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Turki Alalshikh corrects reporter who mentioned Canelo Alvarez earning $100 million to fight Terence Crawford
Dana White recently responded to being asked about how much Canelo Alvarez would make for this fight.
While the UFC president didn’t provide a clear answer, he stated that somewhere around the $100 million mark was “probably” close.
This was brought up at the press conference on Thursday of fight week, where a reporter asked about Alvarez making history by receiving this kind of money.
“Why are you lowering the bag?” Alvarez jokingly responded. “I’m fighting for more and you’re lowering it.”
Turki Alalshikh’s response suggests that this wasn’t just a humorous response from the fighter sitting to his right.
It was previously reported that Alvarez could earn up to $150 million for this fight, and while Alalshikh didn’t provide a number, he did make it clear that it’s more than the $100 million figure that has been spoken about.
“No, you get the number wrong. The contract between us and Canelo [is] more than that.”
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Canelo Alvarez could end up adding to this purse with his performance on Saturday night
Fights of this magnitude can have a tendency to become high-level chess matches due to the stakes involved and the amount of respect between the two competitors.
In the hopes of encouraging both men to produce an entertaining fight, there’s a knockout bonus up for grabs when Canelo Alvarez faces Terence Crawford.
Dana White stated that this bonus will be “over six figures”, but considering the money that they’re already making and what September 13 could mean for their careers, this seems unlikely to impact either man.
For Alvarez, this means breaking a four-year streak where he hasn’t finished an opponent, which won’t be easy considering that neither he nor Crawford have ever been dropped.