Kriti Mehrotra
Born on July 18, 1990, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, to Ana Barragán and Santos Álvarez as the youngest of their eight kids, Santos Saúl Álvarez Barragán has always had a solid support system. The truth is that he was picked on a little when he was a child owing to his pale skin and red hair, making him look more Irish than Mexican, yet loved ones as well as well-wishers soon took it to be a good thing. In fact, while some neighbors nicknamed him Jícama con Chile (Jicama with Chilli Flakes) after a popular local snack, his first boxing coach gave him the casual moniker Canelo (Cinnamon), which just stuck.
How Did Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez Earn His Money?
It was back when Saúl was merely 13 or 14 when he decided to step into the world of boxing upon watching one of his older brothers’ debut as a professional, and it turned his world around. That’s because he had such discipline, skills, as well as talent that he managed to prove his mettle to such an extent within a year that he was no longer fit for amateur bouts – he was simply too good and too strong. He did win silver at the Junior Mexican National Championship in 2004 at the age of 14, but then he went on to secure gold the very next year, concluding his amateur career with a 44-2 record (12 knockouts).
The then-teenager who embraced the name Canelo actually turned pro at the age of 15 because no one from the junior circuit wanted to match up with him for fear of it hindering their own rise. Many at the time likely thought this whole situation to be excessive, but the boxer proved it was necessary in less than two years by knocking out 11 of his 13 opponents, all of whom were more experienced. It has since been alleged that he had at least ten more fights during this period, all of which he won by knockout, but they were either poorly documented or not at all, since they were in relatively smaller venues.
What followed was Canelo’s move from the Lightweight to the Light Middleweight category, where he took on several world-renowned athletes before getting the opportunity to fight for the championship. It was on March 5, 2011, when the 20-year-old became the youngest to claim the World Boxing Council (WBC) Light Middleweight title by defeating Matthew Hatton via unanimous decision. He subsequently went on to defend his belt 5 times in the span of 2+ years prior to challenging the iconic Floyd Mayweather Jr. for a match on September 14, 2013, which resulted in him getting his first pro career loss.
Canelo then began competing in the Catchweight/Middleweight category, conquering several non-title matches against some very well-established boxers before winning the WBC and Ring titles in 2015. He eventually vacated the former to return to Light Middleweight, where he beat Liam Smith on September 17, 2016, for the much-coveted World Boxing Organization (WBO) title. He actually switched categories several times in the ensuing years, but it didn’t affect his streak as he went on to bag the World Boxing Association (WBA), WBC, and Ring Middleweight titles in 2018. This achievement came from his rematch with Gennady Golovkin because their initial one a year prior had ended in a controversial split draw.
As if that’s not enough, in 2019, Canelo then defeated Rocky Fielding for the WBA Super Middleweight Title and Daniel Jacobs for the International Boxing Federation (IBF) Middleweight title. That same year, he also decided to make his debut in the Light Heavyweight category, only to soon knock out the then-unified champion Sergey Kovalev for the WBO title. However, arguably the most impressive stint of his career was between December 2020 and November 2021, when he undeniably won against three previously unbeaten fighters to win all four primary Super Middleweight titles. Little did he know he would then suffer his second-ever career loss against Dmitry Bivol in 2022 for the WBA (Super) Light Heavyweight title.
Since then, Canelo has actually defended his undisputed Super Middleweight titles – WBA, WBC, IBF, and Ring – five times, with the latest being against William Scull on May 3, 2025. His next match-up is against another undisputed athlete, Terence “Bud” Crawford, on September 13, 2025, the journey to which has even been chronicled on Netflix’s ‘Countdown: Canelo vs. Crawford.” However, it’s imperative to note that boxing is not the sole source of income for Canelo; instead, he makes a lot of his money from different sponsorships as well as commercial endorsements. In fact, over the years, he has worked with several brands such as the sportswear company Under Armour, sports equipment corporation Everlast, Cognac brandy producer Hennessy, Swiss watchmaker Roger Dubuis, Mexican brewery Tecate, and the online sportsbook 1win.
Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez’s Net Worth
Since Saúl “Canelo” Alvarez has been actively pursuing his passion for boxing as a pro for the past two decades, it goes without saying that he has managed to accumulate significant wealth. Unfortunately, it’s unclear precisely how much he earned from his match purses during his initial years; it has been estimated that it was in the range of $200,000 to $500,000. However, things changed during the early 2010s when he started climbing up the ladder to be known as the next big thing in the world of boxing, as he started making $2 million per fight. This amount only increased as the years passed, with him reportedly bagging a guaranteed $5 million from his match against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013, which seemingly subsequently became his base. Yet, by the late 2010s/early 2020s, his guaranteed purse was $20 million to $30 million per fight.
As for Canelo’s income from sponsorships and endorsements, while no specific amount of any of his multi-year deals is clear, we believe he gets roughly $10 million to $15 million a year from this avenue. We should also mention that since he is one of boxing’s biggest ever pay-per-view stars, he has often been ranked amongst the highest-paid athletes in the world by Forbes. Therefore, it has been estimated that he currently earns somewhere between $110 million and $150 million per year, with most of it being from his beloved sport. His record is actually 67 total fights, out of which he has won 63 (39 from knockouts) and lost 2, while the remaining 2 were draws. Taking all these aspects into consideration, along with his assets like his Guadalajara home, car collection, as well as watch collection, his likely investments, his returns, his production company, and his lifestyle expenses as a global name who is also a happily married father of 4, we believe Canelo’s net worth to be close to $400 million.
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