Canelo Alvarez during the pre-fight press conference ahead of his fight against Terence Crawford, inset Mike Tyson puts his thumbs up during UFC 300, throwback banner. Credit: Steve Marcus/Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Canelo Alvarez was awarded a strange gift after a win that led to $1.5 million passion that he shares with Mike Tyson

Originally posted on Bloody Elbow | By Kyle Dimond | Last updated Sep 2, 2025 2:31 PM ET

As one of the highest paid athletes in the world, Canelo Alvarez spends a lot of time and money on one of his biggest passions.

While Floyd Mayweather earned a record purse for beating Alvarez, the Mexican star has gone on to become one of the most financially successful boxers of all time.

His next fight taking place against Terence Crawford in a dream matchup that fans have wanted to see for a long time is only going to continue to raise that bar even higher.

As Alvarez’s 2019 purchase of a $3 million Bugatti Chiron shows, he’s not afraid to spend his earnings either.

Anyone who has followed the legendary boxer’s career for some time may know that cars and belts aren’t the only things that he has acquired during his career.

Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images

Canelo Alvarez received a horse as a gift before building his own extensive ranch

In 2010, Canelo Alvarez faced off with Luciano Leonel Cuello for the vacant WBC Silver light middleweight title.

He went on to stop his Argentinian foe in the sixth round, which eventually led to Alvarez being lined up to face Manny Pacquiao before the WBC champion chose to vacate his belt.

The WBC Silver title wasn’t the only thing that the Mexican star picked up in victory on that night in Guadalajara, Mexico.

He was somewhat strangely gifted a horse by Mexican singer Vicente Fernandez in his post-fight interview, though this was just the beginning of his collection.

Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images

It was reported in 2023 that Alvarez owned over 30 horses at his ranch, Las Reinas (The Queens) which is said to have cost him around $1.5 million, according to Essentially Sports.

Along with ‘Spirit’, the horse that he received as a gift from Fernandez in 2010, Alvarez also owns ‘Espartano’, a horse that was given to him by another Mexican singer, Esequiel Pena.

The 35-year-old gave his fans a closer look at his love of riding and keeping horses in a video for GQ Sports in 2023, where he spoke about where this passion comes from.

“The first horse I had was a mare that my dad bought when I was around 4 years old. But, I bothered him every day, saying, ‘Buy me a horse. Buy me a horse.’ But we couldn’t afford one, but as a kid, I didn’t know. I think it cost him around 3,000 pesos.”

Canelo Alvarez is not the first legendary boxer to spend his earnings on animals

While Canelo Alvarez receiving a horse as a gift for a win is pretty uncommon, it’s not necessarily surprising that this would become one of his biggest passions in life.

The same cannot be said for fellow boxing legend Mike Tyson, who is well known for having a very strong and rare relationship with animals.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Tyson, who recently gave his thoughts on Alvarez’s next fight, has always been incredibly passionate about owning and caring for pigeons.

‘Iron’ Mike went as far as to say earlier this year in an interview with People that he might even currently own a thousand pigeons in places like California, New Jersey and Las Vegas.

That’s not to mention the huge amount of money that Tyson spent on buying and keeping his three Bengal tigers.

This article first appeared on Bloody Elbow and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: