For many, Canelo Alvarez will be the face of boxing with no explanation required, but what does the data actually show? I will demonstrate.
Firstly, I will compare the names of 5 different fighters (Saul Alvarez, Anthony Joshua, Terence Crawford, Gervonta Davis, and Tyson Fury), and use this to gauge at popularity, I will show a number of metrics for this.
Now, lets compare the names of fighters globally as our first metric, I have embedded a Google Trends graph below:
(Note: due to issues with the embeds, I have taken png snippets of the graphs generated by Google Trends, below are the search terms used for the data)
Next, we have a breakdown by region, where Tyson Fury has been searched more times in many other countries than Saul Alvarez:
Next, I will compare the regional breakdown when sorted for the other boxers:
I find these graphs fascinating, because the picture being drawn here is that Tyson Fury is searched for globally more than Canelo, and Anthony Joshua.
Joshua isn’t as popular as Tyson Fury either, I suspected the opposite would be true (at least, in terms of search terms).
Pay-per-views (PPV), who is Selling More?
Next, we will be looking at PPVs and/or total viewings, including recent fights where data has been provided, up to a total of 5 fights per boxer:
The above figures, real or estimate, may seem underwhelming to what someone may expect from “Canelo” Alvarez.
As he is frequently touted to be the face of boxing, should it be expected that he should be selling at least 1m pay-per-view buys per event? Well, quite possibly, but not realistic in the current paradigm (online piracy, and budgeting in the current economic climate).
I do think the primary issue is that Canelo isn’t making fights with the likes of David Benavidez, Morrell Jr, or Crawford, who fans are most interesting in seeing him fight. A fight between Canelo and Terence Crawford surely will do at least 1.2m pay-per-view buys?
How do these figures compare with Anthony Joshua? I have provided another table below with AJ’s most recent PPV’s:
Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk II was AJ’s highest paying pay-per-view event in his last 5 fights. His match against Ngannou was the next PPV, which was not successful in the US (at 4,600 PPV buys approximately)
AJ’s fights with Parker and Klitschko were AJ’s most successful PPV events, I have not included these in the table as they are not among his last 5 fights.
Now, lets move onto Tyson Fury
1.5m+ buys for Fury vs Usyk is excellent, this was a highly successful boxing event, it remains to be seen how successful the rematch will be (cancellations or postponements no withstanding), but should have more intrigue than the first.
I’d estimate that it would do more PPV buys than the first fight, but this will depend on the purchasing ability of fans (it’s occurring near Christmas, so it may serve as an early present of sorts, or fans may want to avoid spending on the fight if their budget is tight, and want to focus on their families instead).
What this does show, is that consumer interest grows, when fighters fight who the fans want to see them fight.
Fury vs AJ would be a massive seller, no question, even if there are no belts involved.
As Usyk was the unified heavyweight champion, who became the undisputed heavyweight champion after his victory over Fury, this generated a lot of intrigue, and Fury built a strong following in the US in the build-up to the Wilder fights, and especially when he stopped Wilder in two separate fights in entertaining fashion.
Should Canelo fight Benavidez and Crawford, and offer entertaining fights, expect the PPV buys to increase.
Next, lets look at Gervonta “Tank”Davis’s recent PPV events:
Outside of Tank’s fight against Ryan Garcia, his PPV buys are consistently around the 200-300k mark, this indicates that the PPV success of the Garcia match is strongly associated with Garcia’s popularity, rather than Tank’s. I have not included Garcia as a name to compare with due to recent controversies and his suspension from the sport.
So far, the face of boxing is between Canelo, AJ, and Tyson Fury.
Finally, lets look at Terence Crawford’s PPV events:
Relatively speaking, Terence Crawford has outperformed Tank Davis on a per-fight basis with their most recent fights (excluding Tank’s fight with Ryan Garcia). But Crawford is seeling fewer PPV buys compared with Canelo Alvarez, Anthony Joshua, and Tyson Fury.
Conclusion
From the data provided above, it can be inferred that Tyson Fury is the face of boxing. I would expect that Canelo will remain so for many; arguably, he has generated fewer controversies, and has consistently fought great opposition. Where fans have been displeased with Canelo, is his avoidance of fighters such as David Benavidez. It also remans to be seen is Canelo is open to the Terence Crawford match.
Note: Most of the data used in this post, has been sourced by Google trends, and Grok (AI) via X, I cannot confirm what sources of Data Grok has used.
