The historic boxing showdown between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford may not have been as lucrative for its main backer, Turki Alalshikh, as has been assumed. Despite the impressive paychecks, which included an estimated $100-150 million for Canelo and $10 million for Crawford, rival promoter Eddie Hearn has suggested that the event could have ended in financial losses.
While there is no doubt that the fight was historic and captured the attention of millions of fans and paralyzed the boxing world, the issue of economic gains is relative and does not always deliver positive results, as is often believed in events of such magnitude.
An agreement that left more losses than gains
“I don’t know the numbers, but there was probably a loss on that show because of the deal Turki made with Canelo and Crawford
During an appearance on Ariel Helwani’s show, Matchroom Boxing boss Eddie Hearn shed light on the financial challenges of staging mega-events. While discussing Zuffa Boxing’s plans, Hearn pointed to the Canelo-Crawford fight as an example of a high-risk business.
“I don’t know the numbers, but there was probably a loss on that show because of the deal Turki did with Canelo and Crawford,” Hearn said. The promoter stressed that the high cost is due to Alalshikh’s generosity with the fighters and the massive production costs of a Riyadh season event in Saudi Arabia.
Hearn’s speculation suggests that while Dana White took credit for staging “the biggest games in boxing”, the real financial risk, vision and funding was Alalshikh’s responsibility. According to Hearn, “That wasn’t a Dana White show… it was funded by Turki Alalshikh,” he insisted, insisting that boxing always carries a high risk of incurring losses.
The impact of combat is not in doubt
Despite the speculation about the red numbers, the impact of the fight was undeniable. The event not only recorded a figure of $47 million at the box office, the third largest in history, but its broadcast on Netflix was watched by more than 41 million people, returning boxing to the global sporting conversation.
In addition, Crawford’s victory established him as the first boxer in the four-belt era to be an undisputed champion in three divisions, an achievement that has given him the impetus to request a $100 million payday in his next fight.
With such large events, it would seem that success is assured, but despite achieving so many million-dollar figures in views and earnings for the boxers, from the other side of the organization, there will not always be positive numbers involved.
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