Whilst many fighters continue to argue their case and claim that they have overtaken Canelo Alvarez as the ‘face of boxing’, the numbers argue that the Mexican pound-for-pound superstar is still comfortably at the forefront of the sport.
Gervonta Davis’ win over Ryan Garcia and Terence Crawford’s demolition of Errol Spence Jr have had fans questioning whether Canelo is still the poster boy of boxing, particularly after some felt he put in string of underwhelming performances against Dmitry Bivol, Gennadiy Golovkin and John Ryder, before an improved performance against Jermell Charlo in September.
Still, Alvarez is without a knockout win in his last four contests, a run which has only happened once before in his career, back in 2008 when he was just eighteen-years-old.
However, although his recent performances in the ring has led to criticism from some, his performance outside of it is astounding, with Forbes reporting that his income works out at $1.4 million per minute, during his two fights against Bivol and Golovkin in 2022.
“Álvarez was No. 5 on Forbes’ 2023 list of the world’s highest-paid athletes, with $110 million in pre-tax earnings over the 12 months ending in May. Since the list began in 1990, he is one of just 15 athletes to have reached nine figures in a single year, joining the likes of Roger Federer, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.”
“In fact, Álvarez, a member of the Forbes 30 Under 30 class of 2018, can get halfway there in one fight, collecting about $1.4 million per minute for a 12-round bout.
“That has pushed the 33-year-old super-middleweight’s career earnings to nearly $600 million (pre-tax), according to Forbes estimates—so when Álvarez says that boxing is “not about money,” it’s partly because he doesn’t need it.”
As usual it appears that Canelo will return to the ring around Cinco De Mayo (May), likely facing Jaime Munguia, before potentially squaring off with David Benavidez in September, where a win could re-establish Canelo as the pound-for-pound number one and undisputed ‘face of boxing’.