Julio César Chávez Jr. says his 2017 fight against Canelo álvarez was the best-paid night of his career, bringing in $12 million before taxes, commissions and other deductions. Speaking on the podcast Los Reyes, Chávez Jr. said he had a $6 million guarantee for the bout and another $6 million from pay-per-view revenue.
Chávez Jr. said that after a 15% manager’s cut and 33% in taxes, he was left with about $2 million. The comments put fresh attention on a fight that took place on 6 May 2017 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, during Cinco de Mayo weekend, one of boxing’s biggest commercial dates.
The matchup was one-sided in the ring. Álvarez entered with a 48-1-1 record, Chávez Jr. at 50-2-1, and Álvarez won by unanimous decision after all three judges scored it 120-108.
Chávez Jr. also said he later signed a separate deal with Al Haymon for six fights over four years worth $45 million, a figure that underlines how much money was flowing through boxing’s top tier at the time. But his account of the Álvarez purse also shows how quickly a headline number can shrink once the people around a fighter and the tax bill take their share.
For Chávez Jr., the fight against Canelo álvarez remains the benchmark — not for the result, but for the size of the check he says it produced and the smaller amount that actually stayed in his pocket.