Canelo Alvarez trumps Lionel Messi and LeBron James in list of highest-earning sports stars after money-spinning 2025

2025 wasn’t a great year for Canelo Alvarez’s legacy, but it was for his bank balance.

The Mexican superstar raked in a staggering $137m last year, placing him at No.2 on the Sportico highest-earning athletes list.

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Only Al-Nassr’s Cristiano Ronaldo ($260m) generated more income, while Lionel Messi ($130m), LeBron James ($128.7m) and Karim Benzema ($115m) were all trumped by Alvarez’s astronomical earnings.

$125m of Alvarez’s cash came directly from his fight purses, with endorsements injecting an additional $12m.

Alvarez boxed twice last year, recording one victory and one defeat.

The 35-year-old kicked off 2025 by beating William Scull via unanimous decision in a low-output affair that set the record for the fewest punches thrown in a 12-round bout.

He was then thrust into a super fight with Terence Crawford in September, which he lost convincingly on points.

Some reports suggested Alvarez had been paid up to $150m for his Netflix showdown with Crawford, but judging from Sportico’s numbers, those figures are incorrect.

Which other boxers feature on the 2025 highest-earning athletes?

Alvarez wasn’t the only boxer to feature on the Sportico top 100.

Crawford ranked 21st overall alongside Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell.

Both men pocketed $66m for their efforts, with $60m of Crawford’s earnings stemming from his fight with Canelo – his only contest of the year – and $6m from endorsements.

Naoya Inoue also features on the list at No.25 after an incredibly active year.

Sportico's top 30 richest athletes

1. Cristiano Ronaldo, football: $260m 

2. Canelo Alvarez, boxing: $137m 

3. Lionel Messi, football: $130m 

4. Juan Soto, baseball: $129.2m 

5. LeBron James, NBA: $128.7m 

6. Karim Benzema, football: $115m 

7. Stephen Curry, NBA: $105.4m 

8. Shohei Ohtani, NBA: $102.5m 

9. Kevin Durant, NBA: $100.8m 

10. Jon Rahm, golf: $100.7m 

11. Lewis Hamilton, F1: $100m 

12. Kylian Mbappe, football: $95m 

13. Giannis Antetokounmpo, NBA: $94.3m 

14. Rory McIlroy, golf: $91.2m 

15. Max Verstappen, F1: $83m 

16. Scottie Scheffler, golf: $82.9m 

17. Patrick Mahomes, NFL: $80.3m 

18. Erling Haaland, football: $77.9m 

19. Josh Allen, NFL: $73.2m 

20. Justin Herbert, NFL: $71.1m 

21. Blake Snell, baseball, $66m 

       = Terence Crawford, boxing: $66m 

       23. Bryson DeChambeau, golf: $62.7m 

       24. Anthony Edwards, NBA: $62.2m 

        25. Naoya Inoue, boxing: $62m 

        26. Joel Embiid, NBA: $61m 

        27. Jayson Tatum, NBA: $60.4m 

        28. Jimmy Butler, NBA: $60.3m 

        29. Nikola Jokic, NBA: $60.2m 

        30. Jake Paul, boxing: $60m

‘The Monster’ banked $62m after defending his undisputed super bantamweight crown four times in the space of 12 months, beating Ye Joon Kim, Ramon Cardenas, Murodjon Akhmadaliev and David Picasso.

Jake Paul was the fourth and final pugilist listed, coming in at No.30.

‘The Problem Child’ fought twice in 2025, beating Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and losing to Anthony Joshua.

Curiously, Joshua didn’t make the top 100 despite pocketing an even share of the prize pot.

The Sportico methodology states that “estimates are for earnings during the 2025 calendar year”.

Therefore, it is assumed that Joshua’s exclusion is an administrative error.