How Floyd Mayweather Became the World's Richest Athlete
Floyd Mayweather Jr. has said he will be stepping into the boxing ring for the final time on Saturday night. After the fight with Andre Berto in Las Vegas—in which Mayweather hopes to retain his undefeated record and finish his career with a 49-0 wins-losses ratio—Mayweather will have to find a new hobby to pass the time. Perhaps counting his exorbitant wealth would keep him occupied.
Mayweather is rich. Very rich, in fact. He has been ranked as the world's highest-paid athlete by business magazine more than $200 million all told.
As of June, Mayweather is estimated to have a net worth of $650 million. The fighter is taking a big pay cut for his final bout with Berto—he is expected to get a minimum guarantee of $1 billion in total earnings. So how did he make so much money?
Mayweather began his professional career in 1996—prior to that he had been an amateur boxer, and actually lost several fights including at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where he was a bronze medallist. For the first 10 years of his career, Mayweather was managed by boxing promoters Top Rank, but as his reputation and his unbeaten record grew, so did his financial aspirations.
In 2006, Mayweather the first of 10 straight fights which earned him at least $25 million each. Fittingly, it was in the run-up to the De La Hoya bout that the undefeated boxer christened himself with the nickname "Money."
From that moment, the money kept rolling in. The boxer set up his own company, Mayweather Promotions, which currently has another 12 fighters on its books beyond the man himself, and is the reported $20 million for an appearance at Wrestlemania 2008.
All of this is small fry, however, compared with Money's big pay-day when he fought Pacquiao earlier this year. The "Fight of the Century," as it was billed, broke numerous financial records, including registering 4.4 million PPV buys in the U.S. alone and generating $73 million in gate receipts. Forbes estimates the fight will generate $600 million once everything is counted up. Finally, Saturday's fight against Berto will be the last of a six-fight deal signed in 2013 with U.S. TV network Showtime, which guaranteed the boxer at least $32 million per fight.
If Mayweather does hang up his gloves after Saturday—some speculate that he will be tempted to go for a 50-0 win, thereby breaking Rocky Marciano's 49-0 record—he won't have to worry about his retirement fund. Billionaire Cuban told Forbes in 2010: "I don't think people realize just how focused he is on being more successful outside the ring than he is inside."
Related Articles
