Floyd Mayweather tops the list of highest-paid athletes with $300 million haul
Floyd Mayweather Jr. has another title under his belt: The World's Highest-Paid Athlete.
The 38-year-old boxer topped Forbes' 2015 list by pulling in $300 million over the past 12 months. It's the third time in four years he's been in the top spot, and his $300 million breaks the previous record held by Tiger Woods, who brought in a paltry $115 million in 2008 ($125 million adjusted for inflation).
While the numbers are still being counted, Mayweather's May 2 fight against Manny Pacquiao is expected to rake in $600 million from pay-per-view, tickets, and sponsorships, and Mayweather will get a 60 percent cut of the $400 million that will go to the boxers and their promotion companies. Pacquiao didn't do too badly himself: He was the second-highest-paid athlete for the year with $160 million, earning $125 million for the Mayweather fight, $23 million for a November match in China against Chris Algieri, and millions more through endorsement deals with Nike, Foot Locker, Wonderful Pistachios, and other brands.
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Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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