At 36 years old, what Floyd Mayweather Jr. is doing to the boxing world is truly remarkable.
Mayweather won again Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and set the record for the most money guaranteed in a fight. Mayweather, who won the fight to increase his undefeated record to 45-0, made $41.5 million before stepping into the ring.
But is he really worth that much?
Many critics may say no, but not me.
Now approaching age 40, which in the boxing world means something, Mayweather is only two years shy of when “Iron” Mike Tyson retired at 38 and a year shy of the legend Muhammad Ali’s retirement age. This does not seem to bother Mayweather, as he still moves sharp and efficient against opponents who are supposed to throw harder punches like Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
Even before Saturday night’s fight, Mayweather was the highest paid athlete of 2013.
According to “Sports Illustrated’s” yearly “Fortunate 50,” Mayweather ranked number one on the list, which included LeBron James, Tiger Woods and Alex Rodriguez, all of whom have giant endorsement deals with Nike.
Want to know how many endorsements Mayweather has? None.
In a career that is full of monster paydays, “Money” Mayweather topped his last fight against Miguel Cotto, which totaled $45 million, almost before even throwing a punch.
There is more money to come for Floyd as there are still Pay-Per-View receipts that are to be counted and totaled to make his payday even bigger.
According to Forbes.com, Mayweather’s cumulative career earnings will hit $350 million with the Canelo fight.
He has already set the highest earning Pay-Per-View event in history with “The World Awaits” fight against Oscar de la Hoya in 2007 and has won eight world titles and the Lineal Championship in three different weight classes.
But if you ask me, Mayweather has to fight Manny Pacquiao before his career ends. Pacquiao is 54-5 in his career and ranks second to Mayweather as the best pound-for-pound fighter.
The amount of money that a “Pacman vs. Pretty Boy” fight would generate would probably be the most of all time, considering Mayweather’s track record.
But the sporting world has to wait to see how much Floyd has left…and how much he is willing to risk.
-Jason Clarke
