Canelo Álvarez can be considered one of the most successful boxers in history. Although many considered him a lost cause and didn’t have too much faith in this career, he has proven everyone wrong over the last few years.
This Mexican professional boxer has his success attributed to his ability to win fights against world-class opponents with a large amount of skill and determination.
However, just as he knows how to hit the ring to win the fights, he doesn’t fall behind with knocking out new records at hitting millions to add to his net worth. How does he make it? With prize winnings, or is there something else we’re missing?
Today, we’re going to learn more about the boxing star and make sure to say “we were there” when he starts adding more numbers to his account.
Who Is Canelo Álvarez?
His actual name is Saúl Álvarez, but he has been known as “Canelo” since his boxing career started.
He was born on July 18, 1990, on the outskirts of Guadalajara, Jalisco, México.
Although he was raised in Guadalajara, his origins and family are from Los Reyes, Michoacán.
When he was five years old, his family moved to Juanacatlán, Jalisco. Alvarez is the youngest of eight children, six boys (besides Canelo) and only one girl. They all were raised on the family’s farm.
In his youth, Saúl enjoyed horseback riding, which is something not many people would guess, considering the sport he ended up in.
Saul Alvarez started boxing at the age of 13, following his older brother, Rigoberto, after debuting professionally. In fact, all six brothers of the future star became professional boxers.
Right after he started boxing, his amateur record was impressive. He won silver in the Junior Mexican National Championship and then won gold the following year at 15. This was followed by a record of 44-22 and 12 knockouts.
Alvarez became a professional shortly after he won the gold medal. He decided to jump to action despite being 15, a pretty young age for most professional boxers because no one wanted to fight him in the amateur league.
His successful career in the professional ring started with the right leg when he defeated most of his opponents, even though he was fighting older boxers. He had won the welterweight title in 2006 as a result.
Álvarez moved up to light-middleweight and won the WBC silver title in 2010. He also became the first boxer ever to knock out Carlos Baldomir that year.
He continued to defend his title with success, including beating Austin Trout in 2013 but was defeated by Floyd Mayweather later that year.
Canelo went on to win numerous more fights, including a victory over Alfredo Ángulo. He also defeated Miguel Cotto in 2015 that brought a significant win to his pocket by allowing him to win the WBC, Ring, and lineal middleweight titles.
Álvarez defended these titles with a spectacular knockout against Amir Khan during the same year.
In 2016, Canelo decided to lose weight to take on Liam Smith, the WBO light-middleweight champion. Smith was defeated, and as a reward, Canelo took the title with a devastating knockout.
This fight was followed by his victory against Julio César Chávez Junior after long deliberation and negotiation to set up the fight, leading to what many people were waiting for: an Álvarez vs. Golovkin fight.
The negotiations for the Golovkin fight were ongoing for many years before the official announcement. The two fighters were declared equals in September 2017 with a split decision.
The rematch was planned for May 2018. However, Saúl Álvarez was tested positive for illegal substances and was placed on a six-month suspension, while Golovkin also lost his title due to strange circumstances.
This fight was driven long due to all the negotiations involved. Still, when it was able to take place, the Mexican star won in a controversial decision, and many people on the media outlets and fans voted for Golovkin.
His record and wins in super middleweight had another victory added before he returned to middleweight to defeat Daniel Jacobs.
Focusing on heavyweight, later on, he moves up two weights at a time in order to defeat Sergey Kovalev at light heavyweight in 2019.
Due to the pandemic that started in 2020, Canelo hasn’t taken as many fights as people would believe. However, his team has contacted Dmitry Bivol about a world title fight at the moment of writing this article.
Therefore, we can expect some great fights coming up later this second half of 2021.
Does Canelo Álvarez Make Millions?
Anyone would think, how does someone get paid so well by having the chance to hit others? Well, boxing isn’t easy to understand for everyone, and despite all desire to explain it, we’re confident you’re here because of your interest in the sport and the Mexican star.
Therefore, does it feel necessary to explain? Instead, we’re more excited about focusing on how he truly earns those millions because, yes, Canelo does make millions thanks to his fights.
Boxers earn money based on competing in a boxing bout. They have a split of the fight purse designated, and once the fight is over and depending on the winner, they get paid following the deal previously made.
This is why it is hard to say how much a boxer makes based on a standard salary. However, Forbes established that Canelo gets paid around $32 million as salary or wins for each fight.
Meanwhile, $2 million are from endorsements that take us to the $34 million established in Forbes on the World’s Highest-Paid Athletes list, placing Canelo at #48.
Several of his fights over the years show how much the boxing star has grown in terms of winning payments and the sum that could be considered his salary.
One of his major purse fights goes back to 2012 when he faced Sugar Shane Mosely and got $1.2 million for participating.
During his fight against Floyd Mayweather, Canelo earned $12 million.
The numbers continue growing, and when you add this to the endorsement and business ventures he has obtained and invested in, respectively, you can see that the boxer is only starting.
In April 2021, Álvarez mentioned during an interview that he was making around $20 million a year for all his real estate investments, while he also announced the plan of opening over 80 gas stations in Mexico.
Forbes statistics and numbers are based on his 2020 fights. However, after fighting against Billy Joe Saunders in May 2021, he reportedly got paid about $35 million. This would place the boxer much higher in the next list for athletes’ earnings and net worth.
To this date, his net worth ranges from $100 to $110 million, but no information has been confirmed, and we can just wait to see how much he earns after the year ends.
Álvarez’s Biggest Achievements
- He holds a boxing record of 59 fights: 56 wins, one loss, and two draws. Thirty-six of the wins were won via knockout.
- Best Boxer ESPY Award (2019).
- 15 world titles.
- WBA super-middleweight champion (2020).
- Two-times WBA middleweight champion.
- One-time WBO super middleweight champion.
- One-time WBO light heavyweight champion.
- The second boxer in history to hold world titles in three weight divisions at the same time.
Canelo’s Philanthropic Heart
In boxing, not many take the time to know more about the fighters and the impact they’re having in everyone’s lives besides bringing joy to fans of the sport.
In the case of Canelo (the nickname we didn’t mention was inspired by the color of his hair, red), he has contributed with large donations over the years but especially in 2020.
In Guadalajara, he made sure to contribute over $20k to an association called Red Nose, which focuses on helping and supporting children with cancer.
He then made a second contribution by providing a pair of gloves autographed to include them in the organization’s fundraising through a raffle.
The fighter has helped other people directly, including Adamary Sánchez, a girl who struggles to walk and decided to finance the treatment.
Most of his donations are for first responders and medical services in Mexico, and he has made sure to join several organizations to assist with the fight against COVID-19.
$1 million was donated in 2017 to Mexico earthquake relief efforts.
Although he has his eyes set on most foundations and organizations in his native country, Canelo has also helped with international ones that allow children to access education.
His social impact has brought joy to many, and he assures in several interviews that he will continue helping as much as he can.
6 Amazing Quotes by Canelo Álvarez
- “There have been numerous tips and numerous people offering advice. I appreciate it because it all comes with good feelings from the heart. But some of it we’ll apply, and some things we won’t.”
- “I told you. Easy money.”
- “For the entirety of my career, I have taken the fights that no one wanted because I fear no man.”
- “I was made fun of at a young age. I would fight a lot in the streets, and it has a lot to do with the way I am today. It helped my development as a fighter, but what can I say?”
- “When I first stepped into the boxing gym, I loved it. I knew it was what I was going to do.”
- “Athletes can definitely have an impact on society. And it’s great that athletes can be a part of uniting the population.”
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