Floyd Mayweather is the world’s highest paid athlete, according to Forbes magazine.
Over the last 12 months, the pound-for-pound king has accumulated a staggering $285 million in just two fights, the first being his rematch with Marcos Maidana in September, followed by May’s megafight with Manny Pacquiao.
Mayweather’s earnings were brought to the $300 million mark by endorsement deals, something the fighter previously shunned, with Hublot, FanDuel and Burger King, as well as from revenue from things like TMT merchandise, which all-in-all totaled an extra $15 million.
This is the third time in four years Mayweather has topped the list and his total earnings over the past year shatter the previous record for an athlete’s earnings, held by Tiger Woods for his £115 million haul in 2008.
Pacquiao jumped from 11th place last year into second, earning £148 million inside the ring, $23 million of which came from his November fight with Chris Algieri, and an additional $12 million from endorsements with the likes of Nike, Foot Locker and Nestle’s Butterfingers.
The Mayweather-Pacquiao fight itself is set to gross $600 million once the numbers are collated, with a record-breaking 4.4million pay per view buys in America, a gate of $73million and sponsorships of $13million.
The only other boxer on the 100-strong Forbes list, Wladimir Klitschko, is ranked at 63 having earned $22.5million in the past year.
