Manny Pacquiao lands 8th in Forbes’ list of highest-paid athletes of the decade

By Jan Carlo Anolin

At age 41, Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao ranked 8th in Forbes’ Top 10 list of highest-paid athletes of the decade.

According to Forbes, Pacquiao earned $435 million in the last 10 years.

Twenty-five of his pay-per-view fights generated $20 million with an estimated revenue of $1.3 billion.

Pacquiao was 40 when he defeated Keith Thurman last July 20, 2019. The boxer-turned-politician celebrated his birthday last December 17.

Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather Jr., lived up to his moniker after topping the list with $915 million earnings.

Mayweather had more than $500 million combined for the 2015 and 2017 bouts with Pacquiao and UFC fighter Conor McGregor respectively.

“Forbes’ annual rankings of top-earning athletes looks at salaries, prize money, bonuses, endorsements, appearance fees and licensing income,” its article wrote.

Football players Cristiano Ronaldo ($800 million) and Lionel Messi ($750 million) were at No. 2 and No. 3 respectively. Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James ($680 million) settled for fourth and tennis icon Roger Federer ($640 million) landed at No. 5.

Golf legend Tiger Woods ($615 million) placed 6th followed by Phil Mickelson ($480 million) at No. 7
Kevin Durant of Brooklyn Nets ($425 million) placed ninth and six-time F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton ($400 million) sealed the list at 10th place.

Forbes also excluded the earnings for athletes during the span of retirement years which kept NBA stars Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan from the Top 10.

Serena Williams, meanwhile, was the lone woman among the 40 highest-paid athletes of the decade with $215 million. (Jan Carlo Anolin) ###

Source: Manila Bulletin