Much has been said about Floyd Mayweather's impressive win over Conor McGregor in Las Vegas and a lot of attention has been paid to how much he's earnt from 10 rounds in the ring. But that win last night is expected to push the 40-year-old into a very exclusive club that has only two other members.
According to Forbes, Floyd 'Money' Mayweather is on track to become a sporting billionaire, if all the pay-per-view income, ticket sales and other royalties amount to what is forecast. The undefeated boxer received $100 million for his win against the Irishman, however his full take home pay is expected to go as high as $300-350 million when everything is tallied up.
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The only other two members of the club include basketballer Michael Jordan ($1.5 billion) and Tiger Woods ($1.4 billion), who both have reportedly earned 90 percent of their impressive bank accounts through endorsements. Apparently, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Michael Schumacher also make the list if you account for inflation.
But Mayweather never would have been pulling in those types of paycheques if it wasn't for a ballsy move more than 10 years ago. During the early stages of his career, he was being promoted by Bob Arum, who worked with the likes of Muhammad Ali, Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao.
It was a good partnership, and Floyd built his career on a growing undefeated streak. However, in 2006 he wrote a cheque for $750,000 to get out of his contract with Top Rank. That's when he became his own promoter, switching his nickname from 'Pretty Boy' to 'Money' and started building his image outside the ring.
Mayweather in 2007. Credit: PA
Getting out of the contract was clearly a good move, as he pocketed a cool $25 million from a fight with Oscar De La Hoya the next year because there were no middlemen. Forbes says Mayweather had another 11 fights where each paycheque was $25 million or more.
Switching from HBO to Showtime also saw his prizemoney skyrocket. The company guaranteed he would earn at least $32 million per fight as well as take home some of the pay-per-view earnings. In 2013, when he fought Canelo Alvarez, Mayweather earned more than $70 million when his winning pay cheque was added to other revenue from the bout.
His partnership with Showtime reportedly got him $450 million in just two and a half years.
Mayweather isn't shy about is earnings either, with regular posts on his Instagram page showing huge wads of cash and expensive jewellery. You can see why he's called Floyd 'Money' Mayweather.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Floyd Mayweather