It is well said in the world of boxing today that not necessarily the best boxers are the best paid, although there are some names that regardless of what you think of them, from the perspective of the fan or the media, are a guarantee of a great business, just like that of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
According to boxing expert Rick Glaser, Puerto Rican-born American Edgar Berlanga could have pocketed almost $13 million for stepping into the ring alongside the Mexican in the fight on September 14 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Just when Berlanga plans to return to the ring against Gabe Rosado, the media does not stop reminding him of his defeat against the Jalisco native, which meant the first setback in his career and the stain on his record of 23 fights, 22 wins, 17 of which were by knockout.
The reality is that there is no known sum
What is known is that while Canelo takes 80% of the purses from his fights, his opponents have to settle for the rest of the percentage, but when it comes to the Mexican’s box office magnetism and the concepts of PPV and sponsorship, it is not negligible, which is why there is speculation about large sums of money.
There were media outlets that calculated before the fight that Berlanga would take 30 million, with a guaranteed purse of 17.5, however, others were more conservative, like Berlanga himself, who told a Puerto Rican newspaper, that there was a lot of money at stake, but that it did not exceed 10 million, while others like ‘The Sportster’ suggested that the purse was only between $1 and $3 million.
Berlanga’s career experienced a ‘boost‘ after the fight with Canelo, as he went from earning just $1 million with pay-per-view earnings in his fight against Jason Quigley, and from his fight in February 2023 against Padraig McCrory with an approximate $800,000 dollars, the fact of just getting into the ring with the Mexican gave him exponential gains
It was not “the beating of his life” that Canelo gave Berlanga, as he threatened in the previous conferences, but rather “the pay that changed his existence” for the Puerto Rican.
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