On May 7, the attention of boxing fans around the world will be focused on Las Vegas, Nevada, as Undisputed World Super middleweight Champion Canelo Alvarez moves up to 175 pounds to challenge one of the most solid champions not only in this division but in the entire world: Dmitry Bivol.
It will be the second time Canelo Alvarez competes at 175 pounds, after he surprisingly fought Sergey Kovalev in November 2019. On that occasion, the Mexican superstar dramatically knocked out his aging opponent in the eleventh round to be crowned WBO World Light Heavyweight Champion.
On the other hand, Russian Dmitry Bivol faces this bout with a record worthy of attention: 19-0-0, 11 KOs. Despite Canelo’s obvious advantage in terms of experience as a professional, Bivol brings the backing of 283 fights as an amateur and the confidence of having made 7 previous defenses of his belt over a 5-year reign at the Light heavyweight clash.
Canelo Alvarez’s purse for his fight on May 7th
It was originally reported by ESPN’s Mike Coppinger, and other boxing insiders,that Canelo Alvarez had accepted an offer of around $160 million with Matchroom Boxing and DAZN for 3 fights to be held in 2022. The list of fights for the Guadalajara native included the upcoming one against Dmitry Bivol, one in September against Gennady Golovkin and one more in December with opponent and venue to be confirmed (it is speculated that it could be in England or Mexico).
By pure mathematics, if the total offer accepted by Canelo Alvarez is divided between each of the fights he has to holdin 2022, he would be pocketing $53 million for challenging Dmitry Bivol for his World Light Heavyweight Championship, regardless of the outcome.
The $53 million purse clearly exceeds the $40 million Canelo Alvarezpocketed for his first fight against Kazakhstan’s Gennady Golovkin in 2017, and also the $35 million heearned for each one of the battles, between December 2020 and November 2021, in which he participatedto become the first Undisputed World Super middleweight Champion in history.
Canelo Alvarez with a crown after defeating Caleb Plant in 2021. (David Becker/Getty Images)
How much money would Dmitry Bivol get for fighting Canelo Alvarez?
According to Total Sportal,the Kyrgyzstan-born fighter is reportedly receiving the biggest purse of his career for facing Canelo Alvarez. Simply put, it is enough to contextualize that for his previous fight, against Uzbekistan’s Umar Salamov in December 2021, he received “barely” $500,000.
Thus, the guaranteed figure for Dmitry Bivol in this fight is $2 million. However, this could be increased by more than 100 percent if PPV sales are good, so it could reach $5 million as the final purse. Undoubtedly, the biggest payday in his 8 years as a professional boxer.
Dmitry Bivol, WBA World Light heavyweight Champion. (Matt Thomas/Getty Images)
