Floyd Mayweather topped Manny Pacquiao once again, this time, landing as the overwhelming leader on the 2015 Forbes list of highest paid athletes.
Manny Pacquiao came in at second, after making over $100 million in his May bout against Floyd Mayweather, who made close to $200 million for the bout.
.@Forbes 2015 list of top-earning athletes: 1) Mayweather $300M 2) Pacquiao $160M 3) Ronaldo $80M. http://t.co/AIdv0RHERq
— Kurt Badenhausen (@kbadenhausen) June 10, 2015
Mayweather received a $100 million check on fight night, but the real payoff came after the revenue figures were tallied up. The fight was a dud in many people’s eyes, but it smashed every financial record in boxing, including pay-per-view buys (4.4 million and climbing), total gate ($73 million) and sponsorships ($13 million). The fight is expected to gross $600 million once everything is counted. The fighters and their promotion companies will divvy up roughly $400 million, with Mayweather owed a 60% cut. Factor in his September 2014 bout against Marcos Maidana, and Mayweather earned $285 million over the last 12 months in the ring. “Floyd Mayweather just pulled off the biggest score in the history of sports and entertainment,” says Leonard Ellerbe, who heads Mayweather Promotions.
Christiano Ronaldo was third with $80 million followed by Lionel Messi and his $73 million. Here’s the complete list.
Rank Athlete Sport Total Earnings
($mil) Salary/Winnings
($mil) Endorsements
($mil)
1 Floyd Mayweather Boxing $300.0 $285 $15
2 Manny Pacquiao Boxing 160.0 148 12
3 Cristiano Ronaldo Soccer 79.6 52.6 27
4 Lionel Messi Soccer 73.8 51.8 22
5 Roger Federer Tennis 67.0 9 58
6 LeBron James Basketball 64.8 20.8 44
7 Kevin Durant Basketball 54.1 19.1 35
8 Phil Mickelson Golf 50.8 2.8 48
9 Tiger Woods Golf 50.6 0.6 50
10 Kobe Bryant Basketball 49.5 23.5 26