His nickname is ‘Money’ so it comes as no surprise that boxing giant, Floyd Mayweather has topped the Forbes annual list of the world’s 100 highest-pa
His nickname is ‘Money’ so it comes as no surprise that boxing giant, Floyd Mayweather has topped the Forbes annual list of the world’s 100 highest-paid athletes. The retired American boxer has taken top spot on the Forbes sports rich list for the fourth time in seven years. Footballers, Lionel Messi of Barcelona and RealMadrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo came second and third respectively.
Floyd Mayweather earned $275m from his fight against UFC star, Conor McGregor in August and supplemented his annual income with $10m in endorsements, Forbes reports. Second-placed Messi made $111m, thanks to his $84m in salary and winnings and endorsements worth $27m. His rival, Ronaldo, who was top of the list the two previous years, drops to third with $108m. The Real Madrid star earned $61m in salary and winnings and made $47m in endorsements.
Mixed-martial arts and UFC star, Connor McGregor is fourth on the list and is joined in the top 10 by Brazil footballer, Neymar, basketball players, LeBron James and Steph Curry, tennis ace, Roger Federer and NFL quarterbacks, Matt Ryan and Matthew Stafford. Unfortunately, no woman made the top 10 list. Forbes’s sporting rich list is created after calculating an athlete’s earnings from prize money, salaries and bonuses in the year to June 1, 2018.The Forbes data reveals that the 100 highest-paid athletes earned a collective $3.8bn during the past 12 months that’s a 23 per cent increase from the previous year.
- Floyd Mayweather ($285m)
2. Lionel Messi ($111m)
3. Cristiano Ronaldo ($108m)
4. Conor McGregor ($99m)
5. Neymar ($90m)
6. LeBron James ($85,5m)
7. Roger Federer ($77.2m)
8. Stephen Curry ($76.9m)
9. Matt Ryan ($67.3m)
10. Matthew Stafford ($59.5m)
