The 20 highest-paid athletes in the world

Business Insider Sports News Jun - 11 - 2015 , 11:41 2 minutes read

They don't call him "Money" for nothing. Forbes released it's 2015 rendition of the top-100 highest-paid athletes in the world on Wednesday, and for the second straight year boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. topped the list, earning just $13 million less than the next three athletes combined.

Mayweather made over $200 million from his historic fight against Manny Pacquiao. Thanks to the fight generating nearly $600 million worth of revenue, Pacquiao actually comes in at second, albeit a distant second, on the list. He was the 11th highest-paid athlete in 2014.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Roger Federer finished 3rd, 4th, and 5th respectively in the rankings that include both earnings and endorsements. This means that not a single player from the three major sports in the United States – football, basketball, and baseball – cracked the top-5.

LeBron James is the highest-paid basketball player at 6th, trailing Federer by just $2.2 million. Ben Roethlisberger, surprisingly, is the highest-paid football player, coming in at 11. And Jon Lester is the highest paid baseball player at 19.

For the sixth straight year, tennis star Maria Sharapova ($29.7 million) ranks as the highest-paid female athlete, finishing 26th overall.

Here's the top-20:

1. Floyd Mayweather Jr. (boxing): $300 million

2. Manny Pacquiao (boxing): $160 million

3. Cristiano Ronaldo (soccer): $79.6 million

4. Lionel Messi (soccer): $73.8 million

5. Roger Federer (tennis): $67 million

6. LeBron James (basketball): $64.8 million

7. Kevin Durant (basketball): $54.1 million

8. Phil Mickelson (golf): $50.8 million

9. Tiger Woods (golf): $50.6 million

10. Kobe Bryant (basketball): $49.5 million