Floyd Mayweather Tops Forbes' 100 Highest-Earning Athletes [SLIDESHOW]
![Floyd Mayweather Jr Floyd Mayweather Jr](https://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/282656/floyd-mayweather-jr.jpg)
![Floyd Mayweather Jr Floyd Mayweather Jr](https://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/282656/floyd-mayweather-jr.jpg)
![Manny Pacquiao Manny Pacquiao](https://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/282657/manny-pacquiao.jpg)
![Tiger Woods Tiger Woods](https://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/282658/tiger-woods.jpg)
![LeBron James and the Miami Heat won an NBA title before the Clevekland Cavs. LeBron James and the Miami Heat won an NBA title before the Clevekland Cavs.](https://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/282659/lebron-james-miami-heat-won-nba-title-before-clevekland-cavs.jpg)
![Roger Federer Roger Federer](https://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/282660/roger-federer.jpg)
![Kobe Bryant Kobe Bryant](https://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/282661/kobe-bryant.jpg)
![Phil Mickelson Phil Mickelson](https://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/282662/phil-mickelson.jpg)
![David Beckham David Beckham](https://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/282663/david-beckham.jpg)
![Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo](https://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/282664/cristiano-ronaldo.jpg)
![Peyton Manning Peyton Manning](https://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/282665/peyton-manning.jpg)
Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been named by Forbes as the highest paid athlete in the past year, earning around $85m (£54m)
Mayweather, nicknamed "Money" because of his lavish lifestyle, knocked golfer Tiger Woods off the top spot, a position he has held since 2001.
Woods fell to third place having earned $59.4m despite many of his lucrative sponsorship deals falling through because of his personal life and a dip in his professional form.
Mayweather's boxing rival Manny Pacquiao was named the second highest earner with $62m.
Mayweather, who is currently serving a three-month jail term for assaulting his ex-girlfriend, earned his millions thanks two victorious fights against Victor Orttiz in September and Miguel Cotto in May.
Mayweather became the highest paid athlete after spending a little over one hour in the ring. He also acts as his own promoter, taking earnings from all of the tickets, pay-per-view and sponsorships for each of his fights.
Mayweather has been a part of the four biggest non-heavyweight PPV events in boxing history. His fight with Cotto generated $94 million in PPV buys.
Elsewhere on the list, Miami Heat star LeBron James comes in at fourth place with earnings of $53m, the highest-paid basketball of the 13 basketball players in the top 100.
Tennis star Roger Federer comes in at fifth pace with earnings of $52.7m.
There are only two women who made it into the top 100, tennis players Maria Sharapova with $27.9, (26<sup>th) and Li Na with $18.4m (81<sup>st).
There are a total of 30 American football players who made the list, more than any other sport. Indianapolis Colts star Peyton Manning is the top-earning NFL star with $42.4 million, which puts him in 10<sup>th overall.
The highest paid Englishman is LA Galaxy David Beckham, with the footballer and Olympic Ambassador earning $46m.
The world's 100 highest-paid athletes have jointly earned a total of $2.6 billion in the last 12 months.
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