BOXING

Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin: What is the fight purse and how much will the fighters make?

Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin will face off on Saturday, Sept. 17, and they stand to make millions from the fight at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

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The last installment of the fight trilogy between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin will play out this weekend, and whatever the outcome, the two boxers will emerge from the ring millions richer.

Saúl Canelo Álvarez is one of the most highly acclaimed boxers in recent history. He is rated by BoxRec as the number one pound-for-pound boxer in the world, despite his loss to Dmitry Bivol in a light heavyweight bout in May.

Canelo Alvarez: One of the highest-paid athletes

Alvarez has a lot of star power which he has been able to channel into earning power as well. Earlier this year, he was listed by Forbes as the eighth highest-paid athlete for 2022, right above NFL quarterback Tom Brady who sits at number nine, and NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo who is at tenth place.

This weekend’s fight will continue to fill the boxer’s pockets. Events company Matchroom Sport and Alvarez reached an agreement at the beginning of the year, where the Mexican boxer would earn $85 million as an insured purse for two nights.

Canelo already received half of the money for his fight with Bivol, an amount which increased to approximately $81 million due to the percentages derived from PPV, the sale of television rights and sponsorships.

So, for the fight against Golovkin, the 32-year-old will take home at least $42.5 million dollars, which is the balance of the insured prize money, not counting sponsorships and PPV earnings. His base salary for the fight is $10 million, according to Sportszion.

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Alvarez and Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn could seek a third match before the end of the year, for which he would rake in $160 million dollars in total for the three fights.

Golovkin’s projected payout

Golovkin doesn’t quite pack the same punch as Alvarez when talking about paychecks, but this doesn’t mean he won’t stand to earn a fortune after this fight. His base payout is reported to be $8 million, with PPV bonuses projected at $35 million.

This amounts to $43 million, which is enough to set him up for a comfortable retirement, if that is indeed within his plans for the near future.

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