Floyd Mayweather Jr. earned over $6 million (£3.86 million) per minute during his 12-round victory over Manny Pacquiao on May 2, numbers which have thrust the American boxer to the top of sports-earnings list.
As reported by John Mastroberardino of ESPN, Pretty Boy sits ahead of Pacquiao and every other global star on ESPN The Magazine‘s 2015 list of highest-earning athletes. While the two “Fight of the Century” boxers lead the way, football stars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo sit just ahead of Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel on the rich list.
You can view the top earners below:
| Rank | Athlete | Sport | Earnings |
| 1 | Floyd Mayweather Jr. | Boxing | $250m/£161m |
| 2 | Manny Pacquiao | Boxing | $150m/£96.6m |
| 3 | Lionel Messi | Football | $56.3m/£36.2m |
| 4 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Football | $50.2m/£32.3m |
| 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Formula One | $50m/£32.2m |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | Formula One | $40m/£25.7m |
| 7 | Zlatan Ibrahimovic | Football | $35m/£22.5m |
| =8 | Lewis Hamilton | Formula One | $31m/£20m |
| =8 | Clayton Kershaw | Baseball | $31m/£20m |
| 10 | Justin Verlander | Baseball | $28m/£17.9m |
Earnings from Mayweather’s unanimous-decision victory over Pacquiao are expected to be “north of $500m (£322m),” according to Mastroberardino. Incredibly, he notes this is “roughly equal to the 2014 gross domestic product of Tonga.”
Messi, football’s highest earner, has earned a third of what Pacquaio received after a season of goal scoring antics with Barcelona. Considering he has made 54 appearances for the Catalan club since the start of the current campaign—the majority of which have been 90 minutes each, per WhoScored.com—Mayweather and Pacquiao’s colossal earnings are put into a little more perspective.
Messi enthusiasts will be pleased to see the Argentinian’s earnings trump those of eternal rival Ronaldo, who is just behind him at this point.
Both are threatened by new contracts in F1. Vettel’s decision to sign with Ferrari makes him the best-paid racing driver on the planet, but ESPN The Magazine‘s survey doesn’t include the new contract signed by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. The F1 champion confirmed a new three-year agreement worth up to £27 million per year on Wednesday, reported by BBC Sport. He spoke about the decision to ink a new deal on Mercedes’ Twitter account: Hamilton still wouldn’t topple Vettel, but would at least move ahead of Spanish rival Fernando Alonso in sixth.
Despite a limited season with the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant (31st) remains basketball’s top-earner on $23.5 million (£15 million). Tennis star Serena Williams is the highest-paid female athlete, earning $9.3 million (£6 million) in prize money.
