Turki Alalshikh revealed at Thursday’s press conference that Canelo Alvarez’s guaranteed purse for his bout against Terence Crawford will be in excess of $100 million on Saturday night.
Canelo’s Historic Purse Revealed
During the press conference, Turki was asked about the $100 million that Canelo is receiving for the Crawford fight, and said, “No, you got the number [$100,000,000] wrong. The contract between us and Canelo is more than that.”
The event shows that commercial boxing is still thriving, as Canelo-Crawford is drawing more interest than the UFC-type match-ups involving their top stars. One reason for that is the short shelf-life of stars in MMA. It’s impossible to stay on top long enough to gain the type of following Canelo and Crawford have.
What this suggests is that boxing isn’t dying like some believe. At least it’s not for the select fighters at the top of the sport, like Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs).
The top fighters that are selected for Turki’s Riyadh Season events for the high pay are well-chosen, and there’s not a whole lot getting the big bucks. Boxing is thriving among elite fighters at Turki’s Riyadh Season events.
Top Earners of Riyadh Season
Fighters making big purses in Riyadh Season events
– Oleksandr Usyk
– Terence Crawford
– Artur Beterbiev
– Dmitry Bivol
– Daniel Dubois
– Joseph Parker
– Rolando “Rolly” Romero
– Ryan Garcia
– Arnold Barboza Jr.
– William Scull
– Jose Ramirez
– Devin Haney
– Naoya Inoue
– David Benavidez
– Shakur Stevenson
The big money fighters on that list are as follows: Usyk, Inoue, Bivol, Beterbiev, Garcia, and Dubois. Those are the ones that raked in millions in recent Riyadh Season events.
What’s interesting is that some of the guys who are making good money on Turki Alalshikh’s events aren’t considered to be entertaining to watch by fans. Shakur, Haney, and Crawford lack crowd-pleasing fighting styles, yet they’ve been included on Turki’s cards.
Stevenson attempted to change his normal defensive style of fighting to become a more action-oriented fighter following Turki’s no Tom and Jerry type fights mandate for his last contest against William Zepeda on July 12.
Last Updated on 09/12/2025
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