June 11--Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao each made more money in one night this spring than any other athlete in the world over an entire year.
So it's no surprise who tops Forbes' list of the world's highest paid athletes from June 1, 2014-June 1, 2015.
Mayweather is the top-grossing sports figure by far, pulling in a record $300 million in winnings and endorsements. He will receive a 60% cut of the roughly $400 million he and Pacquiao will get for their May 2 megafight, as well as another huge payout from his September bout with Marcos Maidana and a handful of endorsements.
It's the second year in a row and the third time in four years that Mayweather has led the list.
Pacquiao jumps from No. 11 in 2014 to No. 2 this year with $160 million in total earnings, thanks mainly to the Mayweather fight but also counting his November bout with Chris Algieri and a bunch of endorsements.
International soccer stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are next on the list with $79.6 million and $73.8 million, respectively, and tennis superstar Roger Federer rounds out the top five with $67 million.
LeBron James is the highest grossing NBA star, coming in at No. 6 overall with $64.8 million ($44 million of that comes from endorsements). Kevin Durant (No. 7, $54.1 million) and Kobe Bryant (No. 10, $49.5 million) also made the top 10.
American golfers Phil Mickelson (No. 8, $50.8 million) and Tiger Woods (No. 9, $50.6 million) made almost all of their money through endorsements. Mickelson earned just $2.8 million on the tour last year; Woods a mere $600,000.
Ben Roethlisberger is the highest ranked NFL player (No. 11, $48.9 million); Jon Lester tops all Major League Baseball players (No. 19, $34.1 million); no hockey players made the list. Tennis players Maria Sharapova (No. 26, $29.7 million) and Serena Williams (No. 47, $24.6 million) are the only female athletes in the top 100.
