American boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather has again come out on top of the list of the world’s top-paid sports stars.
The undefeated 37-year-old star fought just twice in the last 12 months, but despite his lack of endorsements he raked in enough from the bouts against Canelo Alvarez and Marcos Maidana to collect an astonising $105 million – or £66m.
No wonder he’s nicknamed himself ‘Money’, and constantly flouts his wealth with pictures on Instagram.
Perhaps most surprising of all, however, is how he makes so much: while the other top earners make a huge chunk of their money through endorsements (90 per cent of it, in the case of golfers and tennis players), the boxer’s money all comes through earnings. His huge deal with Showtime TV guarantees him at least £25m per fight, but he also makes a huge amount working as a promoter for other fighters.
Mayweather’s cash haul was enough to see him overtake Tiger Woods at the top of Forbes magazine’s latest rankings of the world’s best-paid athletes, £16m ahead of Cristiano Ronaldoon £50m.
Basketball superstar LeBron James was third on £45.2m, just ahead of Lionel Messi on £40.5m.
Another NBA legend, Kobe Bryant, rounded out the top five on £38.5m, with Woods right behind in sixth place.
Mayweather’s giant pay makes him only the second man in history – behind Woods – to earn more than $100 million in a single year through sport.
Adjusting figures for inflation, however, Forbes reports that Michael Jordan, Michael Schumacher and Mike Tyson have all enjoyed nine-figure years in the past. [Note to self: if sporting career ever takes off, change name to variant of “Michael”.]
Tiger Woods is sixth, his lowest position since 1997, the year in which he won his first Major title barely six months after turning professional, and in which he was also sixth on the list. The golfer topped the list 10 years running from 2002 onwards, with Mayweather top in 2012, and Woods regaining top spot (briefly) last year.
Further down the list, Roger Federer in seventh earns bragging rights in tennis earnings ahead of Rafa Nadal, with Novak Djokovic down in 17th despite having the best year on court of anyone.
Djokovic suffers the ignominy of being three places lower than Gareth Bale; the Welshman’s £22.8m makes him football’s fourth best-paid player behind Ronaldo, Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovc (12th on £25.3).
Bale is also the top British star on the list: F1 ace Lewis Hamilton is 19th, barely scraping a top-20 spot with his £20m salary. EuroSport
The Forbes top 100 best-paid athletes in the world
1. Floyd Mayweather £65.6m Boxing
2. Cristiano Ronaldo £50.0m Football
3. LeBron James £45.2m Basketball
4. Lionel Messi £40.4m Football
5. Kobe Bryant £38.4m Basketball
6. Tiger Woods £38.3m Golf
7. Roger Federer £35.1m Tennis
8. Phil Mickelson £33.3m Golf
9. Rafael Nadal £27.8m Tennis
10. Matt Ryan £27.4m NFL
11. Manny Pacquiao £26.1m Boxing
12. Zlatan Ibrahimovic £25.3m Football
13. Derrick Rose £22.9m Basketball
14. Gareth Bale £22.8m Football
15. Radamel Falcao £22.1m Football
16. Neymar £21.0m Football
17. Novak Djokovic £20.7m Tennis
18. Matthew Stafford £20.6m NFL
19. Lewis Hamilton £20.0m Racing
20. Kevin Durant £19.9m Basketball
21. Fernando Alonso £19.4m Racing
22. Mahendra Singh Dhoni £18.8m Cricket
23. Dwyane Wade £18.7m Basketball
24. Carmelo Anthony £18.4m Basketball
25. Wladimir Klitschko £17.5m Boxing
26. Peyton Manning £16.9m NFL
27. Amar’e Stoudemire £16.7m Basketball
28. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. £16.2m Racing
29. Dwight Howard £15.9m Basketball
30. Cliff Lee £15.8m Baseball
31. Joe Mauer £15.5m Baseball
32. Miguel Cabrera £15.4m Baseball
33. Zack Greinke £15.3m Baseball
34. Maria Sharapova £15.3m Tennis
35. Derek Jeter £15.2m Baseball
35. Rory McIlroy £15.2m Golf
37. Chris Paul £15.1m Basketball
37. CC Sabathia £15.1m Baseball
39. Prince Fielder £14.9m Baseball
40. Darrelle Revis £14.9m NFL
41. Li Na £14.8m Tennis
42. Jimmie Johnson £14.7m Racing
43. Wayne Rooney £14.6m Football
44. Sergio Aguero £14.6m Football
45. Usain Bolt £14.5m Track
45. Dirk Nowitzki £14.5m Basketball
47. Blake Griffin £14.4m Basketball
48. Alex Rodriguez £14.3m Baseball
48. Johan Santana £14.3m Baseball
50. Mark Teixeira £14.2m Baseball
51. Matt Kemp £14.1m Baseball
52. Joe Johnson £14.1m Basketball
53. Geno Atkins £14.0m NFL
53. Ryan Howard £14.0m Baseball
55. Aaron Rodgers £13.8m NFL
55. Serena Williams £13.8m Tennis
57. Chris Bosh £13.6m Basketball
57. Pau Gasol £13.6m Basketball
59. Yaya Touré £13.6m Football
60. Robinson Cano £13.4m Baseball
60. Adrian Gonzalez £13.4m Baseball
62. Joe Haden £13.4m NFL
63. Fernando Torres £13.3m Football
64. Henrik Stenson £13.3m Golf
65. Vernon Wells £13.2m Baseball
66. Canelo Alvarez £13.1m Boxing
66. Drew Brees £13.1m NFL
66. Eli Manning £13.1m NFL
69. Julius Peppers £13.0m NFL
70. Cole Hamels £12.9m Baseball
70. Jason Peters £12.9m NFL
70. Justin Verlander £12.9m Baseball
73. Tim Lincecum £12.9m Baseball
74. Carl Crawford £12.8m Baseball
75. Matt Cain £12.8m Baseball
75. Barry Zito £12.8m Baseball
77. Felix Hernandez £12.7m Baseball
77. Albert Pujols £12.7m Baseball
79. Deron Williams £12.5m Basketball
80. David Ortiz £12.4m Baseball
81. Robin van Persie £12.2m Football
82. Russell Westbrook £12.0m Basketball
83. Sebastian Vettel £11.9m Racing
84. Carlos Dunlap £11.8m NFL
84. Zach Randolph £11.8m Basketball
86. Steven Gerrard £11.7m Football
86. Jeff Gordon £11.7m Racing
88. Rudy Gay £11.6m Basketball
89. Larry Fitzgerald £11.6m NFL
89. Mesut Ozil £11.6m Football
91. Branden Albert £11.5m NFL
92. Franck Ribéry £11.4m Football
93. Alfonso Soriano £11.3m Baseball
94. Jairus Byrd £11.3m NFL
95. Adam Scott £11.1m Golf
96. Terrell Suggs £11.0m NFL
97. Brandon Marshall £10.9m NFL
97. Jayson Werth £10.9m Baseball
99. Matt Holliday £10.9m Baseball
100. Luis Suarez £10.8m Football
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