Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather Takes Back Title of World’s Top-Earning Athlete

The boxer joined five other Americans on the top ten of Forbes’ annual list.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor Fight Happening Aug. 26
WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. poses on the scale during his official weigh-in at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 2, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mayweather will meet WBA champion Marcos Maidana in a WBC/WBA unification fight in Las Vegas on May 3. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Like he did to Conor McGregor in August, Floyd Mayweather has now thoroughly trounced Cristiano Ronaldo.

However, unlike with his win over McGregor, “Money” Mayweather’s victory over Ronaldo came in the bank, not in the boxing ring.

By earning $285 million in salary and endorsements, Mayweather is once again at the top of Forbes’ annual list at the world’s 100 highest-paid athletes, displacing Ronaldo who had topped the list for the previous two years.

Ronaldo ($108 million) falls to third in this edition of the annual list with soccer pitch rival Lionel Messi ($111 million) edging him out for the second spot. McGregor ($99 million) comes in fourth and Neymar ($90 million) rounds out the top five.

Though Mayweather is the only American in the top five, U.S. athletes take four out of the next five spots on the list—LeBron James ($85.5m), Stephen Curry ($76.9m), Matt Ryan ($67.3m) and Matthew Stafford ($59.5m)—with Roger Federer ($77.2m) being the only non-American to rank in the second five.

Overall, athletes from 22 countries made the top 100, but pro baseball, basketball and football players dominated the list with participants in those three sports taking a combined 72 entries.

For the first time since 2010, when the list expanded to include at least 50 people, not a single female athlete made the top 100. Serena Williams was the only woman to make it last year.

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