Forbes magazine's annual tradition of ranking the highest paid athletes this time around has taken an unexpected turn. Tiger Woods, who headed this list for several years, dropped to third place, losing the championship to a boxer.
Forbes provides its readers with different ratings every month. A dozen people are involved in their compilation, so the reliability of the information is beyond doubt. The leading mass media of the world, as well as Internet portals, are guided by the magazine's ratings. In 2012, boxer Floyd Mayweather topped the list of the highest paid athletes.
Mayweather earned eighty-five million dollars between June 2011 and June 2012. The boxer, born in 1977, competes in the welterweight division and is currently undefeated. Floyd many times became world champion in different categories: in the second featherweight, lightweight, first welterweight, welterweight, first middle. In 2005, 2006 and 2007 he was named the best boxer according to Ring magazine. Floyd Mayweather received the first place in the Forbes rating even though he had only two fights in a year, and from May to July 2012 he was in prison for beatings.
The second place in the ranking of the highest paid athletes is given to boxer Manny Pacquiao with an income of sixty-two million dollars. The Filipino native was born in 1978 and competes in the welterweight division. In 2009 he received the title of the best athlete according to the US Academy of Sports. Became world champion in the second lightest, second featherweight, welterweight categories. Thanks to the surname, he received the nickname Pac-Man.
Third place went to golfer Tiger Woods. This athlete has been at the top of the ranking of the highest paid athletes in the world since 2001 and in 2012 alone dropped two lines with an income of almost sixty million. Compared to 2009, his income was cut in half.
The rest of the ranking was taken by the following athletes: basketball player LeBron James, tennis player Roger Federer, basketball player Kobe Bryant, golfer Phil Mickelson, football player David Beckham, football player Cristiano Ronaldo, American football player Peyton Manning.
