Amir Khan has revealed the astronomical amount he received for his 2016 fight against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and it's staggering.
Khan, 38, is one of the most decorated British boxers of the past two decades and fought world-class operators such as Terence Crawford, Kell Brook, and Marcos Maidana during his illustrious career.
Arguably his biggest test came in 2016 when he fought Canelo, 34, for the WBC and Ring middleweight world titles in what was a highly anticipated clash, which took place in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Khan later claimed that the Mexican icon came into the ring at 190 lbs despite weighing in at 155 lbs – a catchweight – just one day before the pair went toe-to-toe.
"My lawyer tried to get a rehydration clause, but he [Canelo] said ‘No’, so he must have walked into that fight 190lbs, I was like 155, 156lbs,” Khan told the DAZN Boxing Show in 2022.
"I’m so happy that I got to share the ring with all the top fighters, pound-for-pound, you name it."
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Khan started well and tried to utilise his hand speed but lost via a brutal knockout in round six of the contest.
And despite the huge weight disparity and disappointing result, Khan was paid handsomely for his efforts.
Speaking to former Premier League footballer Troy Deeney on The Stomping Ground in 2024, Khan was asked about the money involved with the Canelo fight.
“It was like four times [more than most other fight],” Khan revealed.
“When that deal (The Canelo fight) was put to me and it was about £11/12 million… now look at it this way, I have to fight Danny Garcia, [Andreas] Kotelnik, Zab Judah, Peterson, and maybe Lo Greco to make that much.
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"It’s not the fight that’s hard, it’s the training camps. So when you get an opportunity like that, you’re gonna take it because you know that it’s only one fight. Whereas instead of you taking five fights, now Canelo knocked me out, fine, knocked me out with one shot, but you’d probably take more damage in all the other fights.”
Khan went on to have five more fights before hanging up his gloves following a loss against Brook in 2022.
Topics: Amir Khan, Canelo Alvarez, Boxing, Troy Deeney
Luke Alfred Davies