The "fight of the century" on May 2 boosted further the wealth of the world's top two boxers, resulting in undefeated American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. topping Forbes's list of highest-paid celebrities. The 38-year-old boxer has earned $300 million the past 12 months.
Second on the list is Filipino boxing champ and Sarangani Congressman Manny Pacquiao who earned $160 million. In third place is American singer Katy Perry at $135 million.
The boxing match, however, disappointed many sports fans, resulting in the two boxers as well as the promoters being sued by fans who felt cheated by the high cost of tickets and pay-per-view but unimpressive 12 rounds of Pacquiao chasing Mayweather. Many boxing fans considered the much-anticipated match as boring, according to Chron.com.
Other athletes in the list include 10th placer Cristiano Ronaldo ($79.5 million), 13th placer Lionel Messi ($74 million), 16th placer Roger Federer ($67 million) and 18th placer LeBron James ($65 million).
Another singer, Beyonce, who was 2014's highest-paid celebrity, went down 28 places as she slipped to 29th place.
The Guardian points out that the list confirms the gender pay gap between male and female celebrities. Because of the lesser number of women celebrities on the list, their combined income reached only $809 million versus $4.35 billion for male celebrities. Among the female celebrities on the list are TV host Ellen DeGeneres, actress Sofia Vergara and A-lister Jennifer Lawrence.
The British daily explained the huge gap to leads in major movies going to male actors. Lawrence made the list because of her role as Katniss Everdeen in the blockbuster movie "The Hunger Games."
Amy Pascal, former co-chair of Sony, confirmed The Guardian's observation in a 2013 interview with Forbes when she was quoted as saying, "The really top [female] stars get the same thing as their male counterparts, the problem is the averages don't work because there are not enough parts for women to star in for them to get paid."
Perry, whom Chron.com said was considered America's Top Pop Export, surprised people by rising to third place. It attributes her meteoric ascent to holding 75 of 124 shows the past year in 27 nations as part of her Prismatic World Tour. Forbes estimates that more than half of Perry's income is from her foreign shows.