Mayweather Tops Highest Paid Athletes List, No Women In Top 100
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By: Ryan Mayer
Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s fight against Conor McGregor was one of the most-hyped events of 2017. Now, we've come to find out that all the hype made Mayweather the highest paid athlete of the year, according to estimates from Forbes . This year's edition of the "highest paid athletes" list features Mayweather Jr. at the top with a salary of $275 million and endorsements totaling $10 million. Considering that Mayweather fought just once last year, that figure would seem to suggest Mayweather's purse for the fight was a cool $275 million.
Meanwhile, McGregor didn't seem to come out of the fight any worse for the wear either. The former UFC champ checks in at number four on the list with a salary of $85 million for the year and endorsements totaling $14 million. Joining the boxers in the Top 5 is a trio of soccer stars: FC Barcelona's Lionel Messi (#2 at $111 million), Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo (#3 at $108 million) and FC Barcelona/Paris St. Germain's Neymar (#5 at $90 million).
No women made the Top 100 of the list as Serena Williams, who was on previous editions, just missed out with an estimated $18 million in earnings.
The first "core four" American sports athlete to make an appearance on the list is LeBron James, who checks in at the sixth spot. James brought in a total of $85.5 million last year between salary and endorsements. His NBA Finals opponent, Steph Curry, is two spots behind at number eight with $76.9 million in total earnings. Here's a quick look at the Top 10.
1. Floyd Mayweather Jr. ($285 million)
2. Lionel Messi ($111 million)
3. Cristiano Ronaldo ($108 million)
4. Conor McGregor ($99 million)
5. Neymar ($90 million)
6. LeBron James ($85.5 million)
7. Roger Federer ($77.2 million)
8. Stephen Curry ($76.9 million)
9. Matt Ryan ($67.3 million)
10. Matthew Stafford ($59.5 million)
To check out the full list, you can head to the link here.