Mayweather still world’s highest-paid athlete; Pacquiao 2nd on list

Floyd Mayweather Jr. (left) and Manny Pacquiao. APF FILE PHOTO

After winning his megabuck bout with Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, undefeated American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. maintained his stature as the world’s highest-paid athlete according to the annual list of ESPN.

In a report by the international sports network, Mayweather was said to have earned $6 million per minute during his record-breaking welterweight unification fight against Pacquiao last May 2 (May 3, Manila time), bolstering his earnings to the top of the list.

READ: Floyd Mayweather is ESPN’s top-paid athlete

“Total revenue from the long-anticipated fight could be north of $500 million — roughly equal to the 2014 gross domestic product of Tonga — with Mayweather clearing somewhere around $250 million,” ESPN said. Mayweather was said to have earned $73.5 million last year according to the same list.

Pacquiao landed on second place with $150 million. He was not on the ESPN list in 2014.

READ: Pacquiao endorsements reeling in big bucks

Football superstars Lionel Messi of Barcelona and Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid came in third and fourth with $56.3 million and $50.2 million, respectively.

Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel ranked fifth after raking in $50 million.

Fellow league drivers Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton took the sixth and eighth spots with payrolls amounting to $40 million and $31 million. Baseball pitcher Clayton Kershaw of the Major League of Baseball’s (MLB) Los Angeles Dodgers tied with Hamilton at eighth place.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, star forward of France’s Paris Saint-Germain at Ligue 1, is the seventh richest athlete after earning $35.1 M.

MLB’s Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers also made it to the top 10 with $28 million.

Baseball players dominated the rest of the top 25: Zack Greinke of the LA Dodgers (11th with $27 million), Josh Hamilton, Ryan Howard, and Cliff Lee of the Texas Rangers (13th with $25 million each), Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners (16th with $24.9 million), Albert Pujols of the LA Angels, Robinson Cano of the Seattle Mariners, and Texas Rangers’ Prince Filder (17th with $24 million each), Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies (20th with $23.5 million), Mark Teixeira of the New York Yankees (24th with $23.1 million), and Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins and CC Sabathia of the New York Yankees (25th with $23 million).

Only two NBA athletes cracked the ESPN list, with Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers being the highest-paid basketball player (20th with $23.5 million). Joe Johnson of the Brooklyn Nets ranked 23rd after earning $23.2 million.

ESPN’s figures were based solely on recent gross salaries, excluding sponsorships and endorsements. IDL