Floyd Mayweather tops Forbes' 2018 list of highest-paid athletes; Conor McGregor lands at No. 4
After two years away from competition, it only took about 30 minutes in a boxing ring for Floyd Mayweather to reclaim the throne as the world’s highest-paid athlete.
According to Forbes’ 2018 list of the world’s 100 highest-paid athletes — that includes all earnings from June 1, 2017 to June 1, 2018 — Mayweather took the top spot by an incredibly wide margin. The retired boxer raked in a massive $285 million for his blockbuster bout with MMA fighter Conor McGregor. Mayweather would win that fight via 10th round TKO and his $285 million earned is more than both the No. 2 and No. 3 athletes on the list, combined. Lionel Messi clocked in at $111 million while Ronaldo followed at $108 million.
Although he lost his first professional boxing match, Conor McGregor has nothing to be ashamed about considering that he came in fourth on Forbes’ list with $99 million earned.
“Boxing’s biggest night of 2017 helped Mayweather and McGregor earn nearly $400 million combined,” said Kurt Badenhausen, senior editor of Forbes Media.
The rankings include all salaries, bonuses and prize money earned. What Mayweather and McGregor did in 30 minutes shredded the rest of the list, who are in competition far longer during a calendar year than the time Mayweather and McGregor spent inside of the squared circle.
While Mayweather is no stranger to this list, McGregor’s presence is likely the reason why we haven’t seen the former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion in an Octagon since November of 2016. The $99 million earned in a sport that he never competed in professionally is ten times more than what McGregor has made in the entirety of his UFC career. To date, McGregor has earned $9,542,000, according to the disclosed purse amounts. It will certainly be a challenge to lure McGregor back into the Octagon, unless its for an amount significantly higher than his top payday in the UFC ($3.6 million against Eddie Alvarez).
As for Mayweather, he has toyed with the idea of competing in MMA but it’s absolutely going to take a payday that tops his massive purse against McGregor to lure him back into competition.
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