By Luke Walker
One of the greatest soccer players of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo, also known as CR7, has many ties to boxing and its champions. Born in Portugal, Ronaldo is known for his incredible skill and performances for several clubs and teams, including Manchester United, Real Madrid, Al-Nassr, Juventus, and the Portugal national team. With a salary of over $241 million for the 2026 season, he became the first player to earn over a billion dollars from the sport. He is currently the captain of both Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr and the Portugal national team and will be playing for Portugal in the upcoming World Cup.
Some of his first interactions with boxing came from the challenges soccer presented early in his career, even making him consider trying boxing instead of soccer at one point. Cristiano’s meeting with two-time former unified middleweight champion and Boxing Hall of Famer Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin, also known as Triple G, in the DAZN series Parallel Worlds provided great insight into the similarities between the two sports. Ronaldo explained, “From the beginning, I only thought about soccer, soccer… but there was a moment when Sporting was so hard that I thought I would have preferred another sport, like boxing.” Gennady shared some of his own experiences from boxing, and the two showed a great deal of respect for each other’s crafts. Later, Ronaldo added, “I don’t think I could have been a boxer. It’s hard. You have to be born for that, with that gift.”
Another friendship is with current unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, who refers to Ronaldo as “Chris.” The two famously met at the Al-Nassr FC training base, and Usyk was later seen watching a soccer match from the stands that same week. When asked in a recent interview who was better, Ronaldo or Messi, Usyk proudly backed Ronaldo because of his relentless discipline and expressed his high level of respect for his friend.
Two more champions, and former opponents, Manny Pacquiao and Canelo Álvarez, have also had interactions with Cristiano. Manny and Cristiano share similar backgrounds, rising from poverty to become world-renowned athletes. At the boxing event Battle of the Baddest, Cristiano called out, “Hey Pacquiao!” to the Boxing Hall of Famer, who warmly greeted the soccer icon. Canelo has spoken directly with Cristiano and frequently invites the star to watch his boxing matches. When asked who the most famous person in his phone was, Canelo happily answered, “Cristiano Ronaldo.”
Cristiano Ronaldo has attended several major heavyweight title fights in Saudi Arabia, including events featuring Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, and he continues to express support for both the sport of boxing and its champions.
Loading