By Fatih Erel
ISTANBUL (AA) – American boxer Floyd Mayweather reclaimed his title as the world's highest-paid athletes in 2018 with $285 million earnings.
Forbes on Thursday released its list of the world's 100 highest-paid athletes.
A 41-year-old boxer was followed by Argentinean footballer Lionel Messi with $111 million, and Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo with $108 million.
Barcelona's Messi, Juventus' Ronaldo, Paris Saint-Germain's Neymar are the footballers who made an appearance among the top 10 highest-paid athletes of the year.
The Forbes list also featured 40 basketball players. Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James ($85,5 million), Stephen Curry ($76,9 million), and Kevin Durant ($57,3 million) of Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder's Russell Westbrook ($47,6 million) and Houston Rockets' James Harden ($46,4 million) were inscribed on the list.
It also includes 18 names from American football, 14 from baseball, 9 from football, 5 from golf and martial arts each and 4 from tennis, 3 from motor sports and 1 from athletics and cricket each.
The world's highest-paid top 10 athletes in 2018 are as follows:
| Athletes | Country | Branch | Earnings ($) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Floyd Mayweather | USA | Boxing | 285 million |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | Football | 111 million |
| 3 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | Football | 108 million |
| 4 | Conor McGregor | Ireland Republic | Mixed martial arts | 99 million |
| 5 | Neymar | Brazil | Football | 90 million |
| 6 | LeBron James | USA | Basketball | 85,5 million |
| 7 | Roger Federer | Switzerland | Tennis | 77,2 million |
| 8 | Stephen Curry | USA | Basketball | 76,9 million |
| 9 | Matt Ryan | USA | American football | 67,3 million |
| 10 | Matthew Stafford | USA | American football | 59,5 million |
Mayweather's all-time earnings reached $1,07 billion.
He became the sixth athlete who exceeded $1 billion all-time earnings after Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Michael Schumacher.
The highest-paid athletes of all time are as follows:
| Athletes | Country | Branch | Earning ($) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Jordan | USA | Basketball | 1,85 billion |
| 2 | Tiger Woods | USA | Golf | 1,7 billion |
| 3 | Arnold Palmer | USA | Golf | 1,4 billion |
| 4 | Jack Nicklaus | USA | Golf | 1,2 billion |
| 5 | Floyd Mayweather | USA | Boxing | 1,07 billion |
| 6 | Michael Schumacher | Germany | Motor sports | 1 billion |
| 7 | Phil Mickelson | USA | Golf | 815 million |
| 8 | Kobe Bryant | USA | Basketball | 800 million |
| 9 | David Beckham | England | Football | 800 million |
| 10 | Shaquille O'Neal | USA | Basketball | 735 million |
| 11 | LeBron James | USA | Basketball | 730 million |
| 12 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | Football | 725 million |
| 13 | Greg Norman | Australia | Golf | 705 million |
| 14 | Mike Tyson | USA | Boxing | 700 million |
| 15 | Roger Federer | Switzerland | Tennis | 675 million |
| 16 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | Football | 600 million |
| 17 | Alex Rodriguez | USA | Baseball | 575 million |
| 18 | Jeff Gordon | USA | Motor sports | 525 million |
| 19 | Oscar De La Hoya | USA | Boxing | 520 million |
