Floyd Mayweather tops Forbes’ 2018 sports rich list for the fourth time in seven years, thanks to a $275 million payday for his August boxing match against UFC star Conor McGregor.
Mayweather unseats Cristiano Ronaldo, who held the crown the previous two years. Ronaldo ($108 million) drops to third this year, with longtime rival Lionel Messi ($111 million) edging him out, after signing a new contract.
Other prominent features on the list are kickboxer Conor McGregor ($99m), Brazil’s captain and Paris Saint Germain’s golden boy Neymar Jr ($90m), NBA legend Lebron James ($85.5m), world’s no.2 tennis seed Roger Federer ($77.2m), Stephen Curry ($76.9) and American Football duo Matt Ryan ($67.3m) and Mathew Stafford ($59.5m).
No women?
Forbes’ lists of top-earning athletes have long been testosterone-heavy. But there has always been at least one female athlete, and as many as three, who qualified since the list was expanded to at least 50 names in 2010. Not this year.
Tennis ace Serena Williams was the only female athlete last year after a drug suspension knocked Maria Sharapova from the ranks. Williams falls short this year after being sidelined almost the entire 12 months due to pregnancy and giving birth to her daughter, Alexis, in September.
Nonetheless, Williams remained engaged with her partners during the year and banked an estimated $18 million off the court from sponsors but it wasn’t enough to crack the top 100.