RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saul "Canelo" Alvarez is set to become history’s first "billion dollar boxer" at some point in 2026, according to his business manager Richard Schaefer.

The Mexican idol kicked off his lucrative four-fight Riyadh Season deal on Saturday night — but it wasn’t pretty.

The Ring champion spent 12 early morning rounds chasing William Scull around every inch of the ring at ANB Arena and eventually claimed a comfortable unanimous decision, which made him a two-time undisputed super-middleweight champion.

The victory set up a Sept. 12 superfight with Terence Crawford at Allegiant Stadium Las Vegas with both men brought together in centre-ring for a face-off to kick off the promotion for the biggest fight of the year.

That showdown will cap a remarkable year for Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs), who recently surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo to become the highest paid athlete on the planet during 2025. It has been recently estimated by Forbes that he has earned just over $600m during his professional career, which turns 20 in October.

Now Schaefer has predicted that the 34-year-old is on the brink of reaching an astonishing boxing milestone.

The former Golden Boy CEO told The Ring: “Canelo is, without any question, the smartest businessman in boxing I have ever met.

“And we are going to get him over that next hurdle… He’s going to be the first fighter to break the billion dollar net worth.

“I have zero questions about it. When? Probably next year.”

Schaefer’s presence alongside Canelo in Riyadh had come as a surprise for some given the former banker has been essentially absent from boxing for many years and considered himself "happily retired" from the business.

But he explained how his relationship with the Mexican, which began 17 years ago, was recently rekindled.

“I’m very fortunate,” Schaefer said. “I started with him when he was 17 years old. I’ve known him since then and now he’s 34.

“We worked together during the Golden Boy days and always had an amazing relationship and friendship with him. And then he reached back out. We stayed in touch. We were friends. We called each other.

“We met each other. But I was sort of retired, I've done my thing in boxing and was happily retired. And then he called me and he said, 'Look, it would be great to have you back. Come and help me with everything.’

“He's my friend. So I'm very happy to do that. I'm thrilled, excited to be working for him and with him, handling all different aspects; fight negotiations, all these other businesses, everything."