Whenever Saul Alvarez enters the ring, not only Mexico but the whole boxing community glues their eyes to the screen. Canelo is the last specimen of the past generation, the ones who fight for the fans, multiple times a year, regularly. It’s not every time you see the world rallying behind a man, rightly labeled as the face of boxing. But there have been times when his authority has been put to the test by another combat sport, MMA, and every time it happened, the Mexican champion brushed it aside and surged past it.

A similar story is about to unfold when Alvarez, 34, takes on Edgar Berlanga at T-Mobile Arena on September 14, and the UFC will try to outsell him with their Noche UFC at the Las Vegas Sphere. Both events will happen just a few streets apart but with a colossal impact on the fans. Here on EssentiallySports, we look at 5 such events when the super middleweight champion alone dealt a nasty blow to the UFC’s chin.

Canelo Alvarez vs. John Ryder surpassed UFC 288 featuring Henry Cejudo

Alvarez, at 61-2-2, had found his mojo back after suffering a defeat from Dmitry Bivol, as he triumphed over Gennady Golovkin in the last fight. He took on the veteran John Ryder in what was his second defense of the undisputed supper middleweight crown on May 6, 2023. Meanwhile, the UFC staged UFC 288 on the same night, which had the former two-division champion, Henry Cejudo, making a return.

While the UFC zeroed in on Prudential Center in Newark and did a solid business, registering a sellout crowd of 17,559 and a gate of $15 million, the footfall of 60,257 at the Canelo fight humbled the UFC event. The reason it happened? It was Canelo’s homecoming for the first time since 2011, and the crowd in Mexico wanted to have a look at their homegrown star.

Even Jon Jones couldn’t compete with ‘Canelo’ vs Mayweather

September 2013 was the time when 3 superstars in combat sports took the central stage, with Floyd Mayweather taking on a young Alvarez. Whereas Jon Jones had already cemented his image as a PPV star with his giant-killer persona and flawless and dominating record. While Mayweather vs. Alvarez took place on September 14 and shattered many revenue records, ‘Bones’ would step into the cage the next week against Alexander Gustafson, also pulling record numbers for the UFC. However, it wasn’t close.

Jones vs. Gustafson produced one of the most memorable fights in UFC history, and the 15,504 people in the audience witnessed a fight worth remembering for years. But the total gate only amounted to $1.9 million, nowhere close to Mayweather-Canelo. Mayweather vs. Alvarez attracted a paid sellout crowd of 16,146 and a live gate collection of $20 million.

Canelo vs. Plant generated double what UFC 268: Usman vs Covington could!

It was the quest for a place in the history books, as there has been no undisputed super middleweight champion in history. The Guadalajara native took on Caleb Plant to seek that berth and all the marbles at 168. On the same night, Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington stood across from each other at UFC 268 in a card bolstered by the likes of Michael Chandler and Justin Gaethje.

Despite an attendance of 20,715, the UFC 268, generated a live gate of $9.9 million. It was pale compared to the sold-out crowd of Alvarez vs. Plant, which racked up $18 million in live gate. The fight also left the domestic promoters and broadcasters richer by $64 million in PPV sales, leaving UFC 268 in the dust.

Alvarez vs GGG II destroyed the numbers of UFC Fight Night featuring Mark Hunt

There was bad blood between Alvarez and Golovkin before they met again in the squared circle on September 15, 2018. The build-up to the fight was tense, as Golovkin’s camp had blasted the champion for testing positive for PEDs, even pushing the rematch to a new date. Besides, the Kazakhstan fighter wanted to avenge a draw for a fight that he believed he had won.

The UFC decided to go to the other part of the world and make their debut on the Russian shores. But, again, on the same date. And it did make a good impression, as the Fight Night card headlined by Mark Hunt did decent business, drawing an attendance of 22,603 fans and a live gate of $1.84 million. However, the boxing event marked an attendance of 21,965 in its records and a gate revenue of $23.4 million. It was only marginally short of what they pulled in their first encounter.

Alvarez vs GGG I broke all records, UFC Fight Night paled in comparison

Golovkin had carved out a reputation as a knockout machine, who flatlined everyone standing against him. He had rapidly surged through the ranks and set up a fight with Alvarez for the middleweight titles. The allure of an undefeated champion putting his record and gold on the line against Alvarez had a swaying effect on the fans, which even swept away UFC Fight Night 116, featuring Luke Rockhold.

The former UFC champion had bad timing, as he marked his return to the Octagon on one of the biggest nights in boxing history. Alvarez vs. Golovkin took the night by storm and had an attendance of 18,252, with the live gate crossing the $27 million mark. It went down as one of the biggest live gate fights in Las Vegas history, and it blew Rockhold’s return to smithereens.

Honorable mention: Canelo Alvarez made the record for the largest US gathering since Covid

As the world went through COVID-19, and sporting events came to a halt, Alvarez gave the nation a reason to come out and plunge again into the passion of sweet science. He went blow-for-blow against Billy Joe Saunders for the unification bout at 168 in 2021, and he ended up pulling punches before a crowd of 73,126 at AT&T Arena in Arlington.

Interestingly, it shattered the record of the largest indoor attendance for a boxing event on American soil. What’s more? It surpassed the Muhammad Ali vs. Leon Spinks 1978 rematch, which marked the number of attendees at 63,350.

Do you think he can do it again on the 14th? What do you make of these Canelo Alvarez fights? Which one of these is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below.