Floyd Mayweather Jr celebrated his 50th unbeaten bout and his retirement by joining the exclusive sportsman’s billionaire club as the third member.
Mayweather’s $300-million pocket money from his Las Vegas fight with Irishman Conor McGregor put him the same class as Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods.
Mayweather has hung up his gloves with 27 knockouts included in his phenomenal unbeaten 50 fights, and at 40 he’s been one of the world’s best for two decades.
Prizemoney of $740 million far outweighed his sponsors and endorsements.
And no doubt Mayweather Promotions will continue to rake in the cold hard for many years.
Jordan (52) and Woods (41) were in exactly the opposite company, with sponsors and endorsements far outweighing their contract and/or prize money.
But a billion is a billion whichever way you look at it. It’s a figure that’s very hard to get your head around.
Not surprisingly Nike has made a major input into both their bank accounts.
Air Jordan and His Airness have set so many basketball records it would take the rest of the week to cover them all, and he’s still an icon years after retirement, as the income keeps pouring in.
Woods is no longer a billionaire, after his sex scandals and divorce have cost him sponsors, and he hasn’t won a golfing major since 2008. It’s doubtful he’ll ever play again.
Ad even if he does, there’s precious little chance he’ll ever be a force anything like how he was in his prime.
So he’ll retire with 14 majors – four short of Jack Nicklaus – and with 79 wins on the USPGA tour, just three short of Sammy Snead’s record.
But nothing can be taken away from Woods that he passed the billion-dollar mark during his career.
As a matter of interest, Forbes has released their top money-earners for 2017.
Selected sportsmen known to Australians
Cristiano Ronaldo with $93 million, made up of $58 million playing contract, and $35 million endorsements.
LeBron James – $86.2 million, $31.2 million, $55 million.
Lionel Messi – $80 million, $53 million, $27 million.
Roger Federer – $64 million, $6 million, $58 million.
Rory McIlroy – $50 million, $16 million, $34 million.
Lewis Hamilton – $46 million, $38 Million, $8 million.
Phil Mickelson – $43.5 million, $3.5 million, $40 million.
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