Dmitry Bivol and Canelo Alvarez secured hefty paydays for their Saturday night boxing bout.
Canelo Alvarez is estimated to have made $53 million for his championship bout with Dmitry Bivol tonight. His opponent is likely to earn a career-high pay of roughly $5 million – $2 million was guaranteed prior to tonight.
With a stern test against Bivol at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Alvarez attempted to capture the 175 pounds title and become the division’s second two-time champion. In terms of commercial and combat worth, the Mexican superstar is regarded far beyond his opponent.
The 31-year-old Canelo Alvarez was guaranteed a $15 million purse coming into tonight. This is projected to increase to $53 million depending on pay-per-view sales and gate receipts.
Alvarez signed a lucrative two-bout agreement with Matchroom Boxing triggering the big payday. He’s already said that he would be activating the rematch clause. This was Alvarez’ first loss since 2013.
Bivol’s previous highest purse was $500,000 versus Craig Richards and $500,000 versus Umar Salamov. Heading into tonight Bivol faced scrutiny due to his nationality.
Russian boxers have been dropped from the WBA rankings. WBC also prohibited Russian boxers from entering the ring with their country’s flag or having the national anthem sung before sanctioned contests.
Although Bivol has publicly criticized the conflict, the Klitschko brothers continue to feel that Russians should not be allowed to compete while the invasion is happening. Bivol fired back at Klitschkos.
Pound-for-pound king Alvarez has made a lot of money in his career. This includes $12 million for his boxing bout with Floyd Mayweather before signing a $365 million agreement with DAZN.
Despite the fact that he has since exited that contract, Alvarez has signed a two-bout agreement for an estimated $160 million. This also includes a trilogy against Gennady Golovkin. This bout was was expected to happen in September but given Alvarez’ loss to Bivol he’s more likely to seek rematch first.
Alvarez’s most recent payout was roughly $45 million for his undisputed championship bout with Caleb Plant at 168 pounds. He created history by becoming the first four-belt champion at that weight. On his route to the shot, Canelo beat Billy Joe Saunders, Avni Yildirim, and Callum Smith, earning him $70 million in total.
With a hypothetical trilogy against arch-rival Golovkin looming, Alvarez has emphasized the importance of focusing on his forthcoming test. He is looking forward to returning to the ring at 175 pounds.