USA Today 66.5K Reads 92 Comments With a nickname like Money, it comes as no surprise that superstar boxer Floyd Mayweather is once again the highest-paid athlete in the world. According to Kurt Badenhausen of Forbes, Mayweather has earned $105 million over the past year, which puts him on the top of the list for the second time in three years. Here is a look at Forbes top 10: Forbes List of Highest-Paid Athletes for 2014 Rank Athlete Sport Total Earnings 1 Floyd Mayweather Boxing $105 million 2 Cristiano Ronaldo Soccer $80 million 3 LeBron James Basketball $72.3 million 4 Lionel Messi Soccer $64.7 million 5 Kobe Bryant Basketball $61.5 million 6 Tiger Woods Golf $61.2 million 7 Roger Federer Tennis $56.2 million 8 Phil Mickelson Golf $53.2 million 9 Rafael Nadal Tennis $44.5 million 10 Matt Ryan Football $43.8 million Forbes Mayweathers ascent to the top stems from his lucrative fights against Saul Canelo Alvarez and Marcos Maidana. The Alvarez fight in particular was a record-breaking one as it set new marks for pay-per-view gross, live gate and total revenue, per Badenhausen. Despite the notion that boxing isnt as popular as it once was, there is more money to be had for the top stars today than there was 25 years ago, according to ESPNs Darren Rovell: Mayweather also became the first athlete to ever crack the $100 million barrier besides golf icon Tiger Woods, per Badenhausen. Speaking of Woods, he dropped to No. 6 after topping the list in 2013. According to Forbes, that had plenty to do with the fact that the partnership between Woods and EA Sports ended. Additionally, injuries have kept Woods off the course for part of the year and prevented him from collecting prize money. As for Mayweather, he stands a good chance of maintaining this position for 2015 in the event that he fights twice over the next year as expected. Those fights will occur without the help of Golden Boy Promotions, however, as Mayweathers camp decided to sever ties with the company, according to ESPNs Dan Rafael. Will Mayweather top this list once again in 2015? Yes, as long as he stays healthy and fights twice, hell be No. 1 again. No, another athlete will emerge and knock Mayweather from his throne. Submit Vote vote to see results Mayweather Promotions chief executive Leonard Ellerbe said that Mayweather will absolutely not work with Golden Boy moving forward and that Mayweathers fights will occur under the Mayweather Promotions umbrella, per Rafael. Mayweather Promotions will continue to promote Floyds fights and Floyd will continue to put on the biggest fights in boxing, Ellerbe said. I have a tremendous team and staff and we continue to expand year by year and were ready to go. That decision could lead to even more cash staying in Mayweathers bank account since he will be in full control of all his fights. Mayweather isnt a universally beloved athlete by any means, but he generates universal interest. He is the one true superstar in boxing today and his financial standing reflects that. It remains to be seen how much longer Mayweather will choose to compete, but he figures to be the king of the sporting world for as long as he does.
Posted on: Fri, 13 Jun 2014 00:00:49 +0000
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