Saul Alvarez ended 2025 with a defeat, but the bank account of boxing's biggest star clearly shows that he remains a winner. The sports publication Sportico published its fifth annual list of the "100 Highest-Paid Athletes in the World" for 2025, and Alvarez ranked second with an estimated income of $137 million.
Of this amount, $125 million came from his fights against William Scalla in May and Terence Crawford in September, and another $12 million from advertising contracts. In February, Alvarez signed a very profitable four-fight contract with Riyadh Season.
The list of the world's highest-paid athletes included three more boxers. In 21st place was Alvarez's defeat— Crawford. Crawford, who recently retired, had only one fight in 2025 and earned an estimated $66 million—$60 million in fees/prizes and $6 million from advertising contracts.
Slightly behind Crawford, in 25th place, was the undisputed featherweight champion Naoya Inoue with an estimated income of $62 million—$45 million in fees/prizes and $17 million from advertising contracts. The incredibly active Inoue had four fights in 2025 and defeated Ye Jun Kim, Ramon Cardenas, Murodjon Akhmadaliev, and David Picasso.
Closing the list of fighters who made it to the rankings, Jake Paul at number 30. Paul's estimated income was $60 million—$50 million in fees/prizes and $10 million from advertising contracts. Paul had two fights in 2025: a unanimous decision victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in June and a knockout loss in the sixth round to Anthony Joshua on December 19.
Cristiano Ronaldo leads all athletes with a total estimated income of $260 million—$200 million in fees/prizes and $60 million from advertising contracts.
The Sportico list included athletes from eight sports and 28 countries. The full top 100 list and Sportico's ranking methodology are available here.
The Sportico list for 2024 included six boxers, with Tyson Fury leading the fighter rankings, ranking 3rd in the world with an income of $147 million, and Oleksandr Usyk ranking 7th with an income of $122 million.
