The retired boxing champ beats out Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in Forbes' list of top paid athletes.
- Jun 6, 2018
AceShowbiz - Retired boxing champ Floyd Mayweather, Jr. has fought his way back to the top to be crowned the World's Highest-Paid Athlete.
The fighter banked an estimated $285 million (£213.4 million) in the past year to take first place on the new all-male 2018 Forbes list, thanks to his big payday from his bout with UFC star Conor McGregor last August (17).
The figure is a steep increase from the 2017 poll, when Mayweather was ranked number 16 with just $44 million (£32.9 million) in earnings.
Soccer icons Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo snag second and third place with respective pay cheques of $111 million (£83 million) and $108 million (£80.8 million), with McGregor climbing 20 spots to number four with $99 million (£74 million), almost triple what he banked in the previous year.
Brazilian soccer star Neymar rounds out the top five with $90 million (£67.3 million), while basketball aces LeBron James and Stephen Curry, tennis legend Roger Federer, and American footballers Matt Ryan and Matthew Stafford also feature in the top 10.
