Floyd Mayweather tops Forbes list

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(Srilankamirror) – Floyd Mayweather has overtaken Tiger Woods at the top of Forbes magazine’s list of the 100 highest-paid sports personalities over the past year.

Boxer Mayweather, currently serving a three-month jail sentence for domestic assault, made $85m (£54.25m) – a figure bolstered by promoting his own fights.

Golfing legend Woods dropped to third having received $59.4m (£37.92m) with boxer Manny Pacquiao rising to second on earnings of $62m (£39.57m).

David Beckham is eighth on the list, is the highest paid footballer with earnings of $46m (£29.36m).

Surprisingly, Olympic champion and world record-holding sprinter Usain Bolt, who is the most high-profile star of London 2012, was only 63rd with $20.3m (£12.96m) – just a quarter of Mayweather’s earnings.

Only two women made it on to the list. Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova is 26th at $27.9m (£17.79m), while Li Na, China’s 2011 French Open champion Li Na, is 81st at $18.4m (£11.72m) after becoming the first Asian-born player to win a Grand Slam singles crown.

Forbes list of highest paid sports stars
1 Floyd Mayweather $85m (£54.25m)

2 Manny Pacquiao $62m (£39.57m)

3 Tiger Woods $59.4m (£37.92m)

4 LeBron James $53m (£33.84m)

5 Roger Federer $52.7m (£33.64)

6 Kobe Bryant $52.3m (£33.38m)

7 Phil Mickelson $47.8m (£30.51m)

8 David Beckham $46m (£29.36m)

9 Cristiano Ronaldo $42.5m (£27.10m)

10 Peyton Manning $42.4m (£27.06m)