Canelo Alvarez vs. Amir Khan: How Much Will The Boxers Make For 2016 Title Fight?

Not only did Amir Khan finally land the big time fight that he’s been searching for, but he’ll easily make more money for one night’s work than he has in his entire boxing career. As he moves up to middleweight to face Canelo Alvarez at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night, the Brit is reportedly in for his first eight-figure payday.

A report from The Daily Star claims that Khan will earn $13 million for the upcoming championship fight in Las Vegas. Khan’s payday includes money from BoxNation, which will broadcast the fight in Khan’s native United Kingdom. It’s the first time that Khan will be in the main event of a United States pay-per-view event.

IB Times reached out to Golden Boy Promotions to confirm the purses for both fighters, but did not receive a comment.

Khan, who began his professional career in 2005, had been looking to fight either Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao for the last few years, but was unable to secure a bout and despite indications he might face Mayweather on multiple occasions. It’s unlikely Khan would have made more than $13 million for a fight against the top two boxers of their generation.

Facing Mayweather in September, Andre Berto took home $4 million for a fight that generated no more than 550,000 pay-per-view buys. Timothy Bradley was guaranteed $4 million against Pacquiao last month, and while he made more because of PPV revenue, he probably didn’t make the $13 million that Khan will reportedly earn.

Khan’s last fight came against Chris Algieri, and he reportedly earned a $1 million purse for winning a unanimous decision on Spike in May 2015. The Brit also earned a payday from British TV revenue, but nothing compared to what he will pull down this weekend.

It’s unknown exactly what Alvarez will make for Saturday’s fight, but it's highly likely he'll receive a heftier sum than Khan. Now that Mayweather and Pacquiao are retired (for now at least), Alvarez has proven to be the biggest draw in boxing behind a strong contingent of Mexican supporters. He was guaranteed $5 million and reportedly made more than $10 million for his Nov. 21 fight against Miguel Cotto, which generated 900,000 PPV buys.

Alvarez’s biggest payday came when he lost to Mayweather in Sept. 2013. It was Alvarez’s only defeat of his career, but he reportedly earned $12 million for what was the highest-grossing boxing PPV of all time.

Much of Alvarez’s earnings will depend on this weekend's figures. Oscar De La Hoya has predicted that the fight will do even better than the PPV headlined by Alvarez and Cotto.

“It is a mega-event that nobody expected and it took the world by surprise and this fight is making news all over the world, and will be more than Cotto-Canelo [one million],” De La Hoya told ESPN Deportes when the fight was confirmed in February. “That’s our big hope, and that indicates Canelo is a superstar. It is my duty as a promoter to present the public with the biggest fights. I thought Amir Khan was the perfect fight.”

Alvarez and Khan will be the main event of the first-ever boxing card at T-Mobile Arena. They’ll fight almost a year after Mayweather and Pacquiao both received nine-figure paydays for their mega-fight, earning more than $300 million combined.