LeBron, Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar, Alex Rodriguez, Usain Bolt, Floyd Mayweather and so on and so forth.

They’re amongst the biggest names in sports, and they’re not going to sleep hungry, but they’ve all been usurped by Mexican boxer Canelo Álvarez.

He has just inked the largest contract in sporting history, an 11-fight contract with streaming service DAZN, worth a quite staggering $365 million (just over R5,2 billion).

Worth at least $365 million, actually, because Canelo can also earn money on top of his deal, if he helps bring in a certain number of DAZN subscriptions during his contract.

Here’s the Guardian:

Álvarez’s next fight is against Britain’s Rocky Fielding [below] on 15 December at New York’s Madison Square Garden. “The most important thing to me was being able to give the fans the opportunity to see me fight without having to pay the $70 or $80 for my fights on pay-per-view,” the 28-year-old Álvarez told ESPN on Wednesday. “That was the most important thing, more important than what I am making.

“It’s very important for me to give the fans the biggest fights and the most important fights, and I promise you I will always do that. The December fight with Fielding is a dangerous fight. I am moving up in weight, and I don’t know how my body will feel. But I always want to take on challenges, and I am very happy my fans will be able to see me fight for a small cost.”

A small cost to each fan, and a monster payday for Canelo. I imagine this deal will irk Floyd Mayweather, but then again, he earned what some estimate to be around $275 million for a single fight against Conor McGregor.

Add that to his Manny Pacquiao money, and he’s still doing alright.

Canelo Álvarez’s new contract has bumped the 13-year, $325m deal that Giancarlo Stanton signed with the Miami Marlins in 2014 into second place. That contract was mostly bought out by the New York Yankees, who he now plays for, when the Marlins needed to make drastic changes to their payroll.

Still, given that Canelo’s fights will be split over a number of years, his per-year earnings won’t rival Forbes’ list of highest earners for 2018:

[source:guardian]