Floyd Mayweather Jr. has enjoyed being at the top of the sports world for quite some time especially when he comes out to box. Having retired last September, the undefeated boxer is no longer racking in revenue as he used to be, falling down the ranks.
For the first time in four years, Floyd Mayweather Jr. finds himself dropping to 16th in the list of highest paid athletes with soccer phenom Cristiano Ronaldo now the new top earning athlete.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s feat marks the first time that a football player has topped the list and only the second time that an athlete from a team sport has accomplished it. The other player to achieve the feat was NBA legend Michael Jordan when he was still actively playing ball.
Floyd Mayweather’s plummet in the rankings was expected. After ruling the list of highest paid athletes three of the past four years, his retirement obviously saw this coming. Regardless, Mayweather claims that he has amassed enough fortune to last his lifetime.
Last year, Floyd Mayweather hauled in a record $300 million which was a result of his match with Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao in May of last year. He ended his boxing career against Andre Berto which wasn’t exactly a blockbuster, netted $32 million.
Forbes reports that Mayweather amassed $44 million this year though a large chunk of that ($32 million) came from the Berto fight. In short, he only racked in the remaining earnings outside the ring.
Overall, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has racked in a total of $700 million since 1996. Only Pacquiao and Canelo Alvarez are the boxers in this year’s list. The recently proclaimed Filipino senator now sits at the 63rd spot while Alvarez is at the 92nd spot.
So will Floyd Mayweather Jr. use this as motivation to fight again? Many believe that he will eventually return to break the 49-0 tie with Rocky Marciano and this could be another angle that may push him to fight at least one more time.
