Canelo Vs Mosley: Fight Purses

Mosley (left), Alvarez (right) with promoter De La Hoya.

Light-middleweight champion Saul Alvarez will receive $1.2 million for his his fight with Shane Mosley on the undercard of Mayweather-Cotto. This is almost twice as much as what Mosley will be paid.

That's right, this will be the first fight in a very long time that 'Sugar' Shane Mosley will be earning less than $1 million. He will end up with a purse of around $650,000 which is good for supporting fight but it is nowhere as much as what he has been earning recently. In his last five fights Mosley made $1.5 million against Ricardo Mayorga, $1.2 million against Antonio Margarito, $1 million against Sergio Mora, $5 million against Manny Pacquiao and over $7 million in his showdown with Floyd Maywether. So why has his pay suddenly been cut so massively?.. Is it a sign that he is no longer a main attraction or is just that he will be in the ring with someone who is an even bigger star than he is.

We all know why Alvarez is getting so much. He is arguably the biggest Mexican star around today (maybe Juan Manuel Marquez) and has attracted huge TV numbers against fighters that are not necessarily big stars. When you look at who Marquez has faced when he's drawn in big numbers, it's been people like Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. Whereas Alvarez has done it against people like Matthew Hatton and Ryan Rhodes who are nowhere near in the same league as 'Pacman' or 'Money'. At the age of 21, to receive a seven figure amount in a fight on a undercard is amazing. This just shows how much of a star 'Canelo' is.

This is a must win fight on May 5th for Mosley. If he loses he will no longer be a main attraction and his pay will drop even more, but if he does manage to upset the odds he will see his pay rise again. It is also a must-win for Canelo as it is first real test as a pro so he needs to prove to the world that he can mix with the best.