Revealed: The highest paid sports people of 2018 as Conor McGregor makes appearance and Lionel Messi beats Cristiano Ronaldo
FLOYD MAYWEATHER has stormed back to the top of the highest paid earners in sport - on the back of just one fight.
Mayweather came out of retirement for his over-hyped clash with UFC star Conor McGregor in 2017, and that was enough for him to over take the rest as the biggest money-maker on the planet.
The unbeaten boxer raked in £207.6million from his Las Vegas clash with Mayweather, which saw him beat his outspoken rival to make it 50 wins in the ring in his brilliant career.
That saw him dwarf the figure of the next best paid person in sport, Barcelona star Lionel Messi.
And the fight, which drew over 4.5m pay-per-view buys, also saw McGregor coin £64m - enough for him to storm into fourth spot as he joined the upper echelons of the sporting mega-stars.
The boom in football wages has seen the big three stars Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar all make it into the top five.
But in the battle of the big two, it is Messi who has taken the bragging rights over his long-standing rival Ronaldo by collecting £2.2m more over the past year than the new Juventus star.
Messi's contract at Barcelona makes him the highest paid footballer in the world, and with endorsements he earned £83.81m over the past year.
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That was enough for him to nudge Ronaldo into third on the list with £81.54m, even though he makes £15m more a year in commercial activity than the Argentinian.
Neymar's move to Paris Saint-Germain has been enough to see him occupy fifth spot behind McGregor but he has work to do if he wants to overtake Messi and Ronaldo.
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The top British earner is Lewis Hamilton, with the F1 world champion's £38.5m only enough for him to come home 12th.
And though the Premier League is the richest of the world football leagues, the highest paid over the past year was Paul Pogba whose £22.27m ranks just 52nd in the global money list.
The Forbes Highest Earners in Sport List 2018
1: Floyd Mayweather (boxing) £207.6m
2: Lionel Messi (football) £83.81m
3: Cristiano Ronaldo (football) £81.54m
4: Conor McGregor (mixed martial arts) £74.75m
5: Neymar (football) £67.95
6: LeBron James (basketball) £66.82m
7: Roger Federer (tennis) £58.29m
8: Stephen Cirry (basketball) £58.06m
9: Matt Ryan (American football) £50.81m
10: Matthew Stafford (American football) £44.92m
