Could Floyd Mayweather reach $1 billion in career ring earnings? Possibly
LAS VEGAS -- The amount of money that is being generated by the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight on May 2 is staggering. The fight will likely gross in excess of $400 million and Mayweather's purse alone could hit $200 million.
As amazing as it sounds, it's nothing when one considers this:
There is a chance, and a pretty good chance at that, that by the time Mayweather retires, he'll wind up with $1 billion in career earnings. Yes, that's billion with a B.
Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, said Mayweather is "already more than halfway there." If he hits $200 million for the Pacquiao fight, it would be hard to imagine that he couldn't make it.
Mayweather is 47-0 and has two more fights on his contract. According to Forbes, Mayweather made $224 million from 2012 through 2014. Adding $200 million from the Pacquiao fight to that is $424 million, and that counts only six fights (Miguel Cotto in 2012, Robert Guerrero and Canelo Alvarez in 2013, Marcos Maidana twice in 2014 and Pacquiao on May 2).
He made huge paydays against Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton in 2007, Juan Manuel Marquez in 2009, Shane Mosley in 2010 and Victor Ortiz in 2011.
If he averaged just $20 million a fight over those five bouts, which is conservative, that's another $100 million right there. That would bring us to $524 million for only 11 of his fights.
So if he fulfills his contract with Showtime and fights once more, he'd put himself within shouting distance of the $1 billion mark in career gross earnings (without considering endorsements).
It's mind-boggling to think that any athlete could make that kind of money, particularly in a sport like boxing.
Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said he doubted that Mayweather could get that far.
"I question the credibility of some of those numbers," Arum said.
Ellerbe said that Mayweather not only dreamed of making $1 billion, but set it as a career goal several years ago, when he changed his branding from "Pretty Boy Floyd" to "Money May" and "The Money Team."
"Oh, we most definitley had a lot of conversations about that, and it wasn't just shooting for the moon type of stuff," Ellerbe said. "It's been one of his long-term goals and obviously, he's made tremendous progress getting there."
If Mayweather is 49-0 when his contract with Showtime ends, he could announce one more match so he hits 50-0. If it comes against someone who is even a modest threat, it would be almost like a license to print money.
Records are made to be broken, but if Mayweather reaches the mark, he might hold it for a long time. Golfer Tiger Woods has made more than $1 billion in his career, but nearly 90 percent of it is from endorsements.
NBA icon MIchael Jordan and race driver Michael Schumacher also are at or over that threshold, but again, most of their income is endorsement money.
