"Money" after all is the right monicker for the world's best pound-for-pound fighter. Floyd Mayweather Jr. is slated to earn a record $41.5 million for fighting Saul "Canelo" Alvarez on September 14, 2013. It will be the biggest pay in boxing history since Evander Holyfield gained $33 million in facing Mike Tyson in a rematch in 1997.
In his latest fight this year, Mayweather reaped $32 million after an easy victory against Robert Guerrero in defending his WBC welterweight crown. He also took home a purse of $32 million against Miguel Cotto last year.
The 16,200-capacity MGM Grand was sold out immediately for a total live-gate record of $19.1 million after an 11-city tour began. The previous record was $18,419,200 reported by ESPN.
This will be Mayweather's second fight since leaving HBO and transferring to Showtime/CBS for a profitable 30-month six-bout contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Last year, he was the highest-paid athlete in any sport according to Forbes. This year, after the Canelo fight, he will be earning a total of $73.5 million for two bouts, and will be the top sportsman money-maker again.
The Mayweather-Alvarez fight has the tendency to surpass the pay-per-view all-time record high of 2.44 million buys and $130 million in the Mayweather bout against Oscar De La Hoya in 2007 with the "Money" beating the "Golden Boy."
"With the pay-per-view numbers, is it going to break the record? I hope so," said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, was quoted by nydailynews. "I think it has an opportunity, but if it's going to happen in the end, I don't know. But one thing I know- it's a big fight."
?No matter where you look you see all these signs that lead to something good," Schaefer said. ?It all leads to elevating boxing." He added that the popularity of Mayweather in the United States and the idolization of Alvarez in Mexico will boost the sales of the fight according to ringtv.com.
?It?s always been one of my ultimate goals to get to the pinnacle of the sport and push myself to the limit by facing the best,? said Mayweather, referring to the equally-undefeated opponent. ?He?s one of the best guys out there at this particular time.?
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