May 2, 2015; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao box during their world welterweight championship bout at MGM Grand Garden Arena. (Photo : USA TODAY Sports )
Forbes may have to revise its estimate of American boxer Floyd Mayweather's income for the last 12 months. That's because a new estimate of income from pay-per-view (PPV) buys during his bout against Filipino champion Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas on May 2 placed his total earnings for 36 minutes of running around the ring at $235 million.
The initial estimate of Forbes was that "Money May" earned $300 million the past year when he fought Pacquiao and had a rematch with Argentinean boxer Marcos Maidana in September 2014. With that income alone, Mayweather was named the highest-paid celebrity for the year, followed by Pacquiao who earned $160 million.
However, ESPN reports that while Mayweather gets to keep all his earnings to himself, Pacquiao's income would be further reduced since he has to pay Bob Arum and Top Rank, his promoters. In addition, Pacquiao - as well as Mayweather - are facing lawsuits from boxing fans dissatisfied with the results of the "dream match." Pacquiao faces 40 lawsuits for not disclosing he had a shoulder injury before the bout.
With the agreed 60-40 split of the purse, Mayweather's earnings for the 12 rounds made up of 3 minutes each is estimated to equal what basketball player Tim Duncan earned over 18 years with the San Antonio Spurs. Pacquiao, despite getting a lower share, earned at least $150 million, which is LeBron James's on-court career earnings, notes the sports site.
The May 2 bout, which took years to finalize, earned almost $600 million, making it the highest money-maker boxing match of all time. The amount includes $72 million ticket sales and another $19 million from national closed-circuit revenue in over 5,000 bars, restaurants and commercial establishments. It also earned $6.9 million - also a record-breaker - in closed-circuit revenue.
The $235 million estimate is slightly lower than the $275 million figure that Mayweather quoted in another interview with BoxingScene.com. The "scandalously" large amounts of money being cited makes other athletes from other sports appear to earn "peanuts."
For instance, CBS cited footballer Aaron Rodgers whose total contract value as quarterback of the Green Bay Packers is placed at $100 million. While such amount would make ordinary wage earners turn green with envy, in comparison to Mayweather and Pacquiao, Rodgers appears to be a "poor" relative of the two pugilists.
CBS writes, "It looks like Rodgers picked the wrong sport. Though, if his abilities with a sword are any indication, he might want to try his hand at boxing next."
