Amir Khan v Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez purse: British fighter in line for biggest pay cheque of his career to date
Amir Khan will pick up the biggest purse of any British boxer for five years when he takes on Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez on Saturday night.
The Bolton boxer will take home around £9m from the Las Vegas bout — the largest pay cheque earned by a Brit fighter since David Haye made £15m from his 2011 defeat to Wladimir Klitschko.
Khan, who is gunning for Mexican Alvarez's lineal middleweight title in his first US-based headline pay-per-view fight, is guaranteed the biggest purse of his career to date — worth more than his last five fights combined.
He is the clear underdog for a contest for which he has had to beef up from 147lbs at welterweight to a catchweight of 155lbs, yet the 29-year-old insists he is headed to the 20,000 capacity T-Mobile Arena to make history and not money.
"I've never gone into a fight just to make money," he said after announcing the event. "I'm going to have another four or five fights and still make a lot of money. I'm doing this because I really believe I can make history."
Fellow Briton Tyson Fury earned around £5m for dethroning Wladimir Klitschko as heavyweight champion of the world last year, while Carl Froch made £8m for knocking out George Groves in front of a record crowd for a British boxing match at Wembley Stadium in May 2014.
Khan was this month named 10th on the Sunday Times Rich List for British athletes under 30 with a personal fortune of £18m.
Despite enjoying public recognition since winning an Olympic silver medal in 2004, Khan has Alvarez's huge Mexican and American fan base to thank for his bumper payday.
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The red-haired sensation – Alvarez's nickname "Canelo", meaning cinnamon in Spanish, is a reference to his mane – has proved to be one of the sport's biggest pay-per-view draws in recent years.
His last fight, a unanimous decision victory over Miguel Cotto, generated 900,000 pay-per-view buys and approximately £40m in revenue.
His powerful punching and aggressive style have proved a hit with fans and is expected to provide a stern test of Khan's resilience this weekend.