Mayweather tops sports highest-paid figures for the second consecutive year
'Money' beat out Manny Pacquiao for the top spot
Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Roger Federer round out the top five
Floyd “Money” Mayweather has lived up to his nickname in every sense of the word, once again being crowned as the world’s highest-paid sporting figure.
Mayweather tops Forbes’ latest list of the wealthiest sporting figures on the planet for the second consecutive year, with the majority of his casual $300 million earnings from the last 12 months coming from his May blockbuster fight against Manny Pacquiao.
He will be pleased to know he beat Pacquiao for the second time in two months, with the Filipino fighter coming behind Mayweather in second place on the list, raking in $160 million over the last year - again thanks to the ‘fight of the century’.
It was the highest grossing fight in history and the $400 million U.S. dollar revenue it generated accounted for much of the $460 million earnings increase on the 2015 list, Forbes said.
Football superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were next on the list in third and fourth spots respectively, with the Real Madrid star earning $79 million and the Barcelona maestro not far behind with $73.8 million.
Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer rounded out the top five with total earnings of $67 million. NBA stars Lebron James (6th, $64.8 million), Kevin Durant (7th, $54.1 million) and Kobe Bryant (10th, $49.5 million), along with golfers Phil Mickelson (8th, $50.8 million) and Tiger Woods (9th, $50.6 million) complete the top 10.
Once again Russian tennis glamour Maria Sharapova is the highest woman on the list at No. 26 - with total earnings over the last 12 months of $29.7 million. Current World No. 1 Serena Williams is the only other woman in the top 100 at No. 47 ($26.4 million).
Basketballer Andrew Bogut was Australia’s highest-paid sportsman over the last year with earnings of $16.2 million, but that was not enough to crack the top 100. Poor Boges…
The Top 10 Highest-Paid Athletes:
Floyd Mayweather - Boxing - $300m
Manny Pacquiao - Boxing - $160m
Cristiano Ronaldo - Soccer - $79.6m
Lionel Messi - Soccer - $73.8m
Roger Federer - Tennis - $67m
LeBron James - Basketball - $64.8m
Kevin Durant - Basketball - $54.1m
Phil Mickelson - Golf - $50.8m
Tiger Woods - Golf - $50.6m
Kobe Bryant - Basketball - $49.5m