Dubai: If the Floyd Mayweather versus Manny Pacquiao bout ever takes place, it will be the battle of two of the richest sportsmen in the world. The Forbes top 100 richest sports stars has them occupying the number one and two spots respectively, with former world number one golfer Tiger Woods in third.
Mayweather collected a total of $85 million (Dh312.2 million) from his fights with Victor Ortiz in September and Miguel Cotto in May. Pacquaio comes in £14.6 million (Dh84.3 million) behind Mayweather, with Woods picking up £37.8 million in total, just £2.8 million of that in earnings and the remainder from endorsements.
David Beckham remains the highest earning footballer, picking up £29.3 million, with £23.5 million in endorsements, followed closely by Cristiano Ronaldo, with Lionel Messi in 11th.
Fernando Alonso comes in as Formula One’s top earner at 19th with overall earnings of £29.4 million, with MotoGP’s seven-times champion Valentino Rossi 20th and seven-times F1 king Michael Schumacher 21st.
Lewis Hamilton is 24th, with Forbes suggesting earnings of £17.8 million, with £15.9 million of that in salary from McLaren, with Manchester United star Wayne Rooney at 37th with £15.5 million.
There is also good news for Indian cricket fans as captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni continues to be the richest cricketer, ahead of master batsman and teammate Sachin Tendulkar as well as the likes of world number one tennis player Novak Djokovic and sprint king Usain Bolt.
According to the list, Dhoni is ranked 31st, way ahead of Djokovic (62nd), Bolt (63rd) and Tendulkar (78th). Star footballers Rooney and Fernando Torres are also behind Dhoni in the latest list.
Djokovic, winner of six Grand Slams singles titles, is 62nd with $20.6 million, while Olympic 100 metres champion Usain Bolt is 63rd with total earnings of $20.3 million.
Maria Sharapova is the richest woman at 26th with earnings of $27.9 million. She is one of two women in the top 100, joined by Li Na in 81st.
