Khan to get $13 million for Canelo Alvarez fight

By Boxing News - 05/03/2016 - Comments

khan111By Jeff Aranow: Amir “King” Khan (31-3, 19 KOs) will be getting a huge payday this Saturday in his fight against WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KOs). Khan will be getting a reported $13 million for the fight. This isn’t bad money for a title challenger, especially considering that Khan turned down a big payday fight against IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook.

The Canelo-Khan will be televised on HBO PPV, and Canelo’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions expects the fight to bring in 2 million PPV buys. Canelo will very likely be getting a career payday against Khan because this is a fight that will almost surely bring in more PPV buys on HBO than Canelo’s last fight against Miguel Cotto last November. That fight brought in 900,000 PPV buys on HBO.

Khan vs. Canelo will be taking place at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Arena seats 20,000.

“The fight against Canelo isn’t about money,” said Khan to the mirror.co.uk. “I’m fighting him because he’s one of the top names in boxing and those are the types of challenges that I thrive on. I’ve always wanted to test myself against the very best and that’s what Canelo is,” said Khan.

With the payday that Khan will be getting for this fight, it should help cushion any hurt feelings he might have if he gets beaten by Canelo. Khan is expected to be knocked out by Canelo. Getting a big payday of $13M should help Khan get over the loss. If by chance we see an upset on Saturday with Khan winning, he’ll likely get an even bigger payday in the rematch.

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Canelo has a rematch clause in the contract with Khan in case he loses to the British fighter. Canelo will most certainly use the rematch clause to get a second fight with Khan so that he can attempt to gain revenge. Canelo didn’t get a rematch against Floyd Mayweather Jr. after losing to him in 2013.

The boxing fans didn’t hold it against Canelo that he didn’t avenge his loss to Mayweather. Canelo cannot walk away from a defeat against Khan because it would be a real disaster for his career if he doesn’t avenge the loss.

“This fight is probably the toughest one out there for me, but it gives me a chance to show where I belong,” said Khan.

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The payday for Khan puts him with the big boys in making the big money in the sport. If Khan can continue to get paydays like this in future fight, he could wind up quite rich by the time he finishes up his pro career. However, Khan’s future paydays will depend largely in how he does against Canelo. Khan needs a win or he needs to look good in losing.

Some fans felt that Khan made a mistake in turning down a big stadium fight against Kell Brook. That fight would have potentially given Khan a career payday. However, the money that Khan is making against Canelo, it shows that he made the right move in rejecting Brook’s offer for a fight.