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Canelo Alvarez will earn over £100million when he steps into the ring with Terence Crawford in Las Vegas tomorrow night - the richest guarantee ever for a Mexican athlete.
The staggering figure was revealed by Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of the country’s General Entertainment Authority, who has bankrolled the kingdom’s takeover of elite boxing.
Asked at Thursday’s final press conference whether Alvarez was guaranteed to make £100million from the fight, Alalshikh didn’t hesitate.
‘No, you’ve got the number wrong… it’s more than that’, he said with a smile on his face.
The fight marks the second bout in a blockbuster three-fight deal between Alalshikh and Alvarez, following the Mexican’s routine points win over William Scull earlier this year.
Alalshikh - often referred to as ‘His Excellency’ - has been credited with making Saturday night’s super-fight a reality.
Canelo Alvarez will earn over £100million when he steps into the ring with Terence Crawford
Canelo (left) and Crawford (right) will go toe-to-toe at the Allegiant Stadium on Saturday night
The staggering figure was revealed by Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of the country’s General Entertainment Authority, who has bankrolled the kingdom’s takeover of elite boxing
Not only did he broker the showdown between Alvarez and Crawford, he also pulled in UFC supremo Dana White as a business partner, while striking a global streaming deal with Netflix.
‘When Sheik Turki asked me to be a part of this thing, there's absolutely no way you wouldn't do it,’ White said. ‘It's going to be an incredible fight on Saturday night and I'm honoured to be here.’
Crawford, meanwhile, shifted the spotlight away from Canelo’s staggering pay packet to his own simmering frustration with the boxing establishment.
Despite an immaculate 41-0 record and titles across three divisions, the Omaha man believes his resume is still unfairly dismissed.
‘People keep saying I haven’t fought anybody,’ he said. ‘Well, come Saturday, we’re all going to see.’
The unbeaten American was in playful mood too, insisting there was little Alvarez could top him in, whether inside the ring or outside of it.
‘The only thing he probably can beat me in is horseback riding, because I don’t ride horses,’ Crawford grinned. ‘But anything else, you don’t come close.’
