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Terence Crawford's payday vs. Canelo is shockingly lower for Netflix fight

Canelo Alvarez is making an insane amount of money for his Netflix showdown vs. Terence Crawford. Crawford's payday is exponentially smaller.
Matthew Graham|
Sept. 12, 2025; Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford at the weigh-in for Netflix's "fight of the century."
Sept. 12, 2025; Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford at the weigh-in for Netflix's "fight of the century." | IMAGO / Hoganphotos

Terence Crawford has had the same amount of major world titles in his career as Canelo Alvarez, each with 10.

Unfortunately for the still undefeated 37-year-old Nebraska native (41-0, 31 KOs), he's not a national Mexican hero and global boxing legend like the 35-year-old Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs).

RELATED: Canelo kisses wife Fernanda Gómez with sweet hug pre-Terence Crawford bout

Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford
Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford stare each other down at the final press conference for Netflix's "fight of the century." | IMAGO / Hoganphotos

So while Canelo has Saudi Arabian PIF "His Excellency" Turki Alalshikh and Dana White promoting the Netflix "fight of the century" as part of a three-match deal between, Alvarez, the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, and the UFC CEO, Crawford is along for the ride.

Canelo will make an obscene amount of money. Crawford will make only a portion of that purse for his payday.

RELATED: Canelo flexes unreal pricey ‘Godfather’ watch before Terence Crawford fight

Here's the breakdown.

Canelo will make somewhere in the ballpark of $150 million

Canelo Alvarez
Canelo Alvarez has a lot of fancy belts! | IMAGO / Hoganphotos

White played it coy that Canelo was "probably" making $100 million, but then when Alalshikh was pushed about that reported $150 million at the final press conference, "His Excellency," who is riding high from his Zuffa Boxing promotions and now with Wrestlemania 2027 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, didn't balk at that seemingly ludicrous number.

RELATED: Dana White bought $50M Vegas mansion for shockingly low price

Netflix has been known to overpay to get what they want. So if it was Canelo they wanted, $150 million doesn't seem bonkers when Jake Paul maked a reported $40 million for his Mike Tyson Netflix showdown.

Crawford will make 6.7% of Canelo's purse

Terence Crawford
Apr 20, 2019; New York, NY, USA; Terence Crawford looks on after winning his fight against Amir Khan during the WBO welterweight title fight at Madison Square Garden. | Sarah Stier-Imagn Images

Reports had his number at a very lucrative and impressive $50 million, but the four-time World Boxing Organization "Fighter of the Year," most recently in 2023, says it's only $10 million.

Yes, that's right. $10 million, only 6.7% of Canelo's $150 million, or 10% of the conservative $100 million number.

"I got $10 million for that [Canelo] fight," Crawford said on the"Ring Champs with Ak & Barak"podcast. "I'm doing it for the opportunity, baby, the legacy. The legacy outweighs the money."

The legacy indeed would be the cherry on top for a truly legendary career. And in the process, Crawford would gain an entirely new audience with potentially huge payouts for the next couple of years.

Still, it feels like he's being severely underpaid for the "fight of the century."

Terence Crawford
Apr 20, 2019; New York, NY, USA; Terence Crawford (yellow trunks) trades punches with Amir Khan (white trunks) during the WBO welterweight title fight at Madison Square Garden. | Sarah Stier-Imagn Images

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Matthew Graham
MATTHEW GRAHAM

Matthew Graham has over 20 years of media experience and oversees The Athlete Lifestyle On SI. He has had previous leadership roles at NBC Sports, Yahoo, and USA TODAY, where he co-founded For The Win (named Best Mobile Site by Digiday). He has also written for ESPN, Cosmopolitan, US Weekly, People, E! Online, and FHM, covering major sports and entertainment events like the Oscars, the Golden Globes, NBA Finals, Super Bowl, and winning the Yahoo Superstar Award for coverage of the Olympics.

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