Forbes has released its annual list of “World’s Highest-Paid Athletes” and surprise, surprise, Floyd Mayweather is once again #1.
Floyd is estimated to have earned more than $200 million from his historic fight against Manny Pacquiao in May. And, if you factor in his September 2014 fight against Marcos Maidana, he earned upwards of $285 million over the last 12 months in the ring… plus another $15 million in endorsements from the likes of Hublot, FanDuel and Burger King.
It’s the third time in four years that Mayweather has topped the list. His $300 million year shatters the record for athlete earnings, which was previously held by Tiger Woods, who banked $115 million in 2008 ($125 million adjusted for inflation, says Forbes).
Pacquiao also scored the payday of a lifetime, via the fight, helping him land in second place among the world’s highest-paid athletes at $160 million (he ranked 11th last year). Pacquiao’s $125 million payday was four times his previous high for a boxing match, alongside the $23 million he earned for his November fight against Chris Algieri and $12 million in endorsements, he had a huge year.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Roger Federer finished third, fourth, and fifth respectively in the rankings, while LeBron James was the highest-paid basketball player and sixth on the list.
Below is the top 20, via Forbes.com:
1. Floyd Mayweather Jr. (boxing): $300 million
2. Manny Pacquiao (boxing): $160 million
3. Cristiano Ronaldo (soccer): $79.6 million
4. Lionel Messi (soccer): $73.8 million
5. Roger Federer (tennis): $67 million
6. LeBron James (basketball): $64.8 million
7. Kevin Durant (basketball): $54.1 million
8. Phil Mickelson (golf): $50.8 million
9. Tiger Woods (golf): $50.6 million
10. Kobe Bryant (basketball): $49.5 million
11. Ben Roethlisberger (football): $48.9 million
12. Rory McIlroy (golf): $48.3 million
13. Novak Djokovic (tennis): $48.2 million
14. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (soccer): $39.1 million
15. Lewis Hamilton (racing): $39 million
16. Ndamukong Suh (football): $38.6 million
17. Fernando Alonso (racing): $35.5 million
18. Gareth Bale (soccer): $35 million
19. Jon Lester (baseball): $34.1 million
20. Derrick Rose (basketball): $33.9 million
