Floyd Mayweather's nickname is "Money" for good reason. He has plenty of it. Mayweather's appetite for wealth is insatiable, though, and that is likely why Saturday night's bout against rising star Saul "Canelo" Alvarez appealed to him so much.
According to Forbes, Mayweather is the 14th-richest athlete over the past year with $34 million pocketed. That may not seem overly impressive at first glance, but when you consider that he has only competed in one fight, that changes the entire perspective.
Until Mayweather steps into the ring with Alvarez on Saturday night, his only fight of the year will have been against Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero. The fact that the pay-per-view sales weren't as good as anticipated for that fight capped Mayweather's earning potential, but he received $32 million guaranteed regardless.
That wasn't a huge concern for Mayweather since Guerrero isn't exactly considered to be a major draw. Mayweather already had a six-fight, $200 million deal in place anyway, according to Forbes, which means that he has five fights remaining, including Saturday's encounter with Alvarez.
According to Kurt Badenhausen of Forbes, Mayweather is in line to receive $41.5 million guaranteed for his fight with Alvarez, which shatters the previous record of $32 million previously set by Mayweather. There is also some belief that Mayweather and Alvarez could challenge the pay-per-view buys record set by Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya in 2007.
Surpassing 2.5 million buys is a tall order, but setting a new pay-per-view revenue record is very possible regardless due to the increased prices of high definition. All of that means even more money in Mayweather's overflowing bank account.
Speaking of his bank account, Tim Keown of ESPN The Magazine saw for himself that Mayweather has $123 million in a single account, and it stands to reason that there is much more where that came from.
It's difficult to get an accurate handle on exactly how much money Mayweather has to his name, but CelebrityNetWorth.com estimates his total value at $170 million.
While there is no question that the 36-year-old undefeated champion works extremely hard during the lead-up to his fights, he has it much easier than most athletes. Mayweather doesn't fight more than twice in a calendar year, yet he is still among the world's highest-paid athletes. In fact, he topped that list in 2012, according to Forbes.
Mayweather made $85 million between his fights with Victor Ortiz and Miguel Cotto, and he stands to rival that number provided Saturday's bout does as well as expected in terms of pay-per-view buys.
Mayweather isn't shy about patting himself on the back with regards to his earnings either. Mayweather routinely retweets articles and analysis about his financial conquests on Twitter, including this video courtesy of ESPN.
The Mayweather machine hasn't shown any signs of slowing down in recent years either, so expect those retweets to continue. Even after extended absences, Mayweather has been perfectly capable of returning to the ring and dismantling his opponents. Alvarez may prove to be the biggest challenge of his career, but he'll certainly be ready for him.
While Mayweather is a prohibitive favorite to beat Canelo on Saturday, winning the fight is far from a foregone conclusion. Alvarez is undefeated in his own right, and he may have the power needed to hurt Mayweather. Even if "Money" shocks the world by taking it on the chin and losing the fight, though, he'll continue to be the biggest draw in boxing.
It can be argued that the popularity of boxing has waned in recent years, but the enormity of Mayweather's net worth suggests that the sport's demise has been greatly exaggerated.
Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter
Read more Boxing news on BleacherReport.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment