IN the race to be the world’s top earning sportsman, Lionel Messi currently sits top of the tree after a period of Floyd Mayweather dominance.
The American boxer’s incredible money-making ability is clear to see when the rolling total of the Forbes’ rich list was revealed on Twitter.
The chart shows the early 1990s dominance of heavyweight boxers and Formula 1 drivers.
Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield lead the rich list at the start of the decade, joined by Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.
This period saw a diverse field of sporting mega stars as the top talent in basketball, tennis, American football and golf were also richly rewarded.
For many years, NBA legend Michael Jordan was untouchable before arguably the greatest racer and golfer of all time leapt to the top of the standings at the turn of the century.
Michael Schumacher and Tiger Woods pushed past the £50million mark for annual earnings as Jordan and Tyson retired.
But basketball was clearly leading the way as the Chicago Bulls hero bowed out, half of the top ten coming from the court as Grant Hill, Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant earned widespread attention.
Mike Tyson was one of the 1990s biggest earnersCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Tiger Woods’ long stay at the top of the golfing world sealed him the big bucksCredit: EPA
Notorious spend-happy boxer Mayweather has plenty of cash to fall back onCredit: EPA
As the 2000s wore on, Woods stretched his advantage and football began to make its mark, most notably with David Beckham.
Shooting up in 2012 was “Money” Mayweather, boxing rival Manny Pacquiao in tow.
Their mega fight in 2015 earned the American victor £230m in just one year as he once again topped Forbes’ standings.
Since then, the duopoly of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have made a big impact with the Portuguese star boasting the highest earnings in all of sport for two separate years.
The most recent list put Messi on top for the first time, taking home £97m while Mayweather’s paycheck lightened.
It is still pennies compared to the £216m the boxer earned in 2018 off the back of beating Conor McGregor to seal a 50-0 record for his career overall.
Manny Pacquiao challenges Floyd Mayweather to take him on if he wants a real fight
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
