Canelo Alvarez Salip Lionel Messi in the List of Highest-Earning Athletes in 2025

JAKARTA - Mexican fighter and former world champion, Canelo Alvarez, managed to overtake football star Lionel Messi and basketball star LeBron James in the list of highest-paid athletes of 2025.

The 35-year-old fighter has earned a fantastic income of 137 million US dollars last year, equivalent to Rp. 2.3 trillion, which places him in second place on the list of highest-paid athletes according to Sportico.

Lionel Messi, who is in third place, has earned a total of 130 million US dollars or Rp. 2.1 trillion. The Argentine football star was followed by baseball player Juan Soto who earned 129.2 million US dollars.

Next, the fifth place belongs to LeBron James with a salary of 128.7 million US dollars. The basketball player who now defends the Los Angeles Lakers outperforms Karim Benzema with 115 million US dollars occupying sixth place.

As much as 125 million US dollars of Canelo's income comes from his fight pay, with an additional 12 million US dollars coming from sponsors. He is behind Cristiano Ronaldo of Al Nassr who has a salary of 260 million US dollars or equivalent to Rp4.3 trillion.

Canelo fought twice last year, recording one win and one loss. He started 2025 by defeating William Scull by unanimous decision and then suffered a loss against Terence Crawford in September.

Several reports say Canelo was paid up to 150 million US dollars for his fight with Crawford which was broadcast on Netflix. However, judging from the figures given by Sportico, the report was not true.

Canelo plans to fight again on September 12, 2026 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. However, he has not announced who the fighter will be his opponent in the duel.

The fighter who once ranked first pound for pound will be the main star in the boxing event themed "Mexico Against the World". This fight was held to commemorate Mexico's Independence Day.