Canelo Alvarez is one of the most well-known figures in the world of boxing, but the 34-year-old Mexican doesn’t even make it into top 10 of the wealthiest sports stars.
According to Forbes, Al-Nassr and Portugal sensation Cristiano Ronaldo tops the coveted list, earning a whopping $260million in total. Two members of the top five are ply their trade in the world of football. Along with the former Real Madrid superstar, Lionel Messi sits in at number – with a grand total of $135m.
There’s quite the gap between Ronaldo and second place star, Jon Rahm. The golfer picked up $198m from golf, while earning $20m off the field. Basketball stars LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo complete the top five. Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, Karim Benzema, Stephen Curry and Lamar Jackson also find themselves in the top 10.
Top NFL player Jackson sits in 10 – pocketing just over $100m. Following the recent influence of Turki Alalshikh in the sport of boxing, it’s been a good time to be a boxer. Financially, many boxers have picked up life-changing paydays from His Excellency. That said, despite his rise in the sport, boxing’s wealthiest fighter, ‘Saul,’ can’t even crack into the top 10.
Alvarez has fought twice this year, defeating Jaime Munguia in May and following that up with a unanimous decision victory over Edgar Berlanga in September. This year, the 34-year-old has earned $85m – with $75m coming from his in-the-ring success.
Sitting just two places below Alvarez, two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua enjoyed a great year financially, earning $83m. The British giant kicked off the year with a brutal knockout win over former UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou. However, he just fell short in his quest to become a world champion once again after being knocked out by Daniel Dubois back in September.
Three boxers make it into the top 50, with Tyson Fury sitting in at 42, after pocketing $50m. The ‘Gypsy King’ has endured a torrid 2024 after suffering back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk. However, from the two fights, the 36-year-old has taken home some life-changing paydays.
Canelo may add to his whopping bank balance after recent talks of a potential fight with YouTuber-turned-boxer, Jake Paul. Over the years, Paul has called for a fight with Canelo in the ring, but the latter has admitted that he would only consider fighting the 27-year-old when he is “done with boxing.” Speaking on The Full Send Podcast, ‘Saul’ said: “When I’m done with boxing [at the highest level], why not? Yeah, maybe. I think it’s good because it brings fans who don’t normally watch boxing. They know Jake Paul, but they don’t know anything about boxing. Maybe [I’ll take the Paul fight].”
