Floyd Mayweather, Jr. earned a reported $285 million last year for his August fight with Conor McGregor which propelled him to the top of Forbes’ highest-paid athletes. McGregor drew $99 million for his part in The Money Fight.
Other combat sports athletes include Canelo Alvarez at #15 earning $44.5 million in 2017. The man he fought last May, Gennady Golovkin drew $25 million last year making him 72nd on the list. Anthony Joshua earned $39 million including a whopping $7 million in endorsements. The heavyweight champ was #25 on the list.
Payout Perspective:
McGregor earned a reported $14 million in endorsements versus Mayweather’s $10 million. Canelo earned just $2.5 million which is surprising for such a start especially in Mexico. You can see the appeal of Joshua as he has been a sponsor draw. GGG has a Jumpman sponsorship but not a lot after that as he made $2 million in endorsements. The list shows that boxing had a big year for some of its biggest stars. It also speaks to how far behind MMA is in payouts for its top draws. McGregor makes the list but its buoyed by his fight with Mayweather.
Leave a Reply