Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez to make $3,858 a SECOND thanks to lucrative Saudi deal after snubbing Jake Paul for mammoth Terence Crawford fight

Boxing great and future ‘Hall of Famer’ Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez may have made the best decision to reject the Jake Paul fight as he is set to make $3,858 a second in his new four  fight deal with Saudi Arabia, according to Action Network.

His fight deal includes a blockbuster bout with Terence Crawford in May of this year and two other fights in 2026. If all of his fights go the full 12 rounds, Canelo will earn $231,481 per minute.

• Canelo Alvarez has secured a four-fight, $400 million deal with Saudi Arabia, turning down a reported fight against Jake Paul.
• His new deal includes a May 2025 bout, a super-fight with Terence Crawford later in the year, and two additional fights in 2026.
• Assuming all four fights go the full 12 rounds, Canelo will earn an astonishing $231,481 per minute and $3,858 per second in the ring.

Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez has sensationally turned his back on a reported showdown with Jake Paul, instead securing a blockbuster four-fight deal with Saudi Arabia worth an estimated $400 million, according to research from Action Network.

Paul was expected to face the Mexican superstar on Cinco de Mayo weekend in May 2025, with the fight streamed live on Netflix in what was tipped to be a record-breaking event. Paul, a YouTube sensation turned professional boxer, has built a reputation as one of the sport’s biggest commercial draws, primarily fighting former UFC stars. 

However, rather than using the bout as a tune-up ahead of a super-fight with Terence Crawford in late 2025, Canelo has instead opted for a more lucrative long-term deal with Riyadh Season.

The undisputed super-middleweight champion is widely regarded as one of boxing’s biggest draws, and it is understood that he leveraged the hype around a potential fight with Paul to secure an unprecedented financial package. 

His new Saudi-backed agreement will see him fight in May 2025, followed by a pound-for-pound showdown with Crawford later in the year, before two further fights in 2026. Below, data experts at BonusCodeBets have worked out just how much the 34-year-old will earn.

A Historic Payday: Breaking Down Canelo’s Earnings

With Canelo set to pocket an estimated $400 million across four fights, the financial breakdown of his earnings per fight and per second of action is staggering. Assuming all four bouts go the full 12 rounds (36 minutes per fight), his earnings per unit of time are as follows:

• Per fight: $100 million
• Per round: $8.33 million
• Per minute: $231,481
• Per second: $3,858

A spokesperson for Action Network said: “For context, Canelo will earn more for a single second in the ring than the average UK worker makes in a month.

“This deal further cements Saudi Arabia’s grip on elite boxing, with Riyadh Season continuing to invest heavily in staging the sport’s biggest fights. For Canelo, it represents not only a generational payday but also the opportunity to further solidify his legacy in the ring, taking on the biggest names in boxing rather than engaging in crossover bouts with social media stars.”

Roberto Villa

Roberto Villa is the CEO, Founder, Executive Writer, Senior Editor of FightBook MMA. Has a passion for Combat Sports and also a podcast host for Sitting Ringside. He’s also a former MMA fighter and Kickboxer.