Some serious money was earnt in the sporting world in 2014.Here Forbes names the highest earning 25 athletes in the world! Wanna know who number 1 is? See after the break!
Boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather has topped Forbes' highest paid athletes list after he managed to rake in $105m in the past 12 months.
The five-division world champion becomes only the second athlete to break the $100m in one year.It is believed that 'Money' Mayweather earned around $25m per fight for his last nine outings stretching back to 2007.
Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was the second highest earner, but some $25m shy of Mayweather; the Portuguese winger earned $80m in the last year. Around $28m of this, according to Forbes, comes from some of the serial record breaker's many endorsements which includes the likes of Nike and Samsung.
The current world player of the year has had a stellar 12 months after winning the Champions league with his club team and being crowned with the Ballon D'or.
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Floyd Mayweather
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Basketball supreme LeBron James takes third place after bringing in $72.3m, just ahead of Ronaldo's biggest rival and threat to his current Ballon D'or title - Lionel Messi.
The Argentine whizz mustered up a healthy $64.7m, which included a salary of $41.7m from his club side, Barcelona.
Kobe Bryant, the LA Lakers Basketball legend who is now in the twilight of his career, still brought in $61.5m, slightly ahead of Tiger Woods.
The Golfing giant, Tiger Woods who is the only other athlete to have brought in more than $100m in one year, earned a more 'modest' $61.2m. Wood's form on the golf course hasn't been great: only a tenth of his annual takings comes from prize money, with the rest in the form of sponsorships and endorsements.
Ronaldo's team-mate Gareth Bale and F1 driver Lewis Hamilton are the only Brits that have managed to break into top 20 of a list dominated by Americans; earning $36.4m and $32m respectively.
Manchester United and England Captain Wayne Rooney makes number 43 in the compilation having earned $23.4m, while his international team mate and Liverpool stalwart Steven Gerrard sits in the lower end of the top 100, having earned $18.7m in 86th place.
Cristiano Ronaldo
American boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather has again come out on top of the list of the world's top-paid sports stars.
The undefeated 37-year-old star fought just twice in the last 12 months, but despite his lack of endorsements he raked in enough from the bouts against Canelo Alvarez and Marcos Maidana to collect an astonising $105 million - or £66m.
No wonder he's nicknamed himself 'Money', and constantly flouts his wealth with pictures on Instagram.
Perhaps most surprising of all, however, is how he makes so much: while the other top earners make a huge chunk of their money through endorsements (90 per cent of it, in the case of golfers and tennis players), the boxer's money all comes through earnings. His huge deal with Showtime TV guarantees him at least £25m per fight, but he also makes a huge amount working as a promoter for other fighters.
Le Bron James
Basketball superstar LeBron James was third on £45.2m, just ahead of Lionel Messi on £40.5m.
Another NBA legend, Kobe Bryant, rounded out the top five on £38.5m, with Woods right behind in sixth place.
Mayweather's giant pay makes him only the second man in history - behind Woods - to earn more than $100 million in a single year through sport.
Adjusting figures for inflation, however, Forbes reports that Michael Jordan, Michael Schumacher and Mike Tyson have all enjoyed nine-figure years in the past. [Note to self: if sporting career ever takes off, change name to variant of "Michael".]
Lionel Messi
Tiger Woods is sixth, his lowest position since 1997, the year in which he won his first Major title barely six months after turning professional, and in which he was also sixth on the list. The golfer topped the list 10 years running from 2002 onwards, with Mayweather top in 2012, and Woods regaining top spot (briefly) last year.
Further down the list, Roger Federer in seventh earns bragging rights in tennis earnings ahead of Rafa Nadal, with Novak Djokovic down in 17th despite having the best year on court of anyone.
Djokovic suffers the ignominy of being three places lower than Gareth Bale; the Welshman's £22.8m makes him football's fourth best-paid player behind Ronaldo, Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovc (12th on £25.3).
Bale is also the top British star on the list: F1 ace Lewis Hamilton is 19th, barely scraping a top-20 spot with his £20m salary.
Kobe Bryant
1. Floyd Mayweather (Boxing) - £65.6m
2. Cristiano Ronaldo Football) - £50.0m
3. LeBron James (Basketball) - £45.2m
4. Lionel Messi (Football) - £40.4m
5. Kobe Bryant (Basketball) - £38.4m
6. Tiger Woods (Golf) - £38.3m
7. Roger Federer (Tennis) - £35.1m
8. Phil Mickelson (Golf) - £33.3m
9. Rafael Nadal (Tennis) - £27.8m
10. Matt Ryan (NFL) - £27.4m
11. Manny Pacquiao (Boxing) - £26.1m
12. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Football) - £25.3m
13. Derrick Rose (Basketball) - £22.9m
14. Gareth Bale (Football) - £22.8m
15. Radamel Falcao (Football) - £22.1m
16. Neymar (Football) - £21.0m
17. Novak Djokovic (Tennis) - £20.7m
18. Matthew Stafford (NFL) - £20.6m
19. Lewis Hamilton (F1) - £20.0m
20. Kevin Durant (Basketball) - £19.9m
21. Fernando Alonso (F1) - £19.4m
22. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Cricket) - £18.8m
23. Dwyane Wade (Basketball) - £18.7m
24. Carmelo Anthony (Basketball) - £18.4m
25. Wladimir Klitschko (Boxing) - £17.5m