5 Most Paid Boxers of 2015

5. Lennox Lewis – $140 million

Lennox “The Lion” Lewis is the former world heavyweight boxing champion and the London-born, 6 foot 5″, sporting legend won $84 million from fights throughout his 14 year career. His fight record is 41 (32KO)-2-1 and some of those wins were against Evander Holyfield, Vitali Klitschko and Mike Tyson. He also took home a gold medal in the 1988 Olympic Games.

In 2002, Lewis was reportedly offered £5m by WWE chairman Vince McMahon to begin professional wrestling. There was apparently a lot of discussions about a possible match between Lewis and Brock Lesnar and it run as a pay-per-view event; however Lewis did not decide to change his career from a professional boxer to wrestler. He commented on the end of his career: “ I have been in there with all of them and there is nothing left for me to prove”.

4. Oscar De La Hoya – $200 million

Oscar De La Hoya‘s fight record is 39 (30KO)-6-0 and he bought home gold in the 1992 Olympic Games. He is best known for defeating 17 world champions in six different weight classes including Julio Cesar Chavez.

De La Hoya is also a huge box-office spinner as he has generated more revenue than any other boxer in history and his fights have been estimated at a $700 million pay-per-view income. He founded Golden Boy promotions which made him the first American of hispanic descent to own a national boxing promotional firm; his partners are Bernard Hopkins, Winky Wright and Ricky Hatton.

He released his first album, Oscar, in 2000 and it topped the Latin dance charts and he was nominated for a Grammy Award for his single ‘Ven a Mi’. In the same year his personal life was bought to the attention of the press after former Miss USA Shanna Moakler filed a $62 million palimony suit against him for support of their daughter, Atiana Cecelia. The case was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.

3. George Foreman – $250 million

George Foreman retired in 1997 aged 48years-old, he is the former two-time World Heavyweight Champion and the 1968 Olympic gold medalist. His fight record stood at 76 (68KO)-5-0 and he features in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. In 1974 he lost his title after he was knocked out by Muhammad Ali during the famous “Rumble in the Jungle” fight; he said; “It just wasn’t my night”.

He grew up in Marshall, Texas and has now become a successful entrepreneur outside of the ring when he sold the rights to his George Foreman grill (which had already sold over 100 million units worldwide) to manufacturing giant Salton for $138 million.

2. Manny Pacquiao – $265 million

Manny Pacquiao is a Filipino professional boxer and a politician and his current fight record is 57 (38KO)-6-2. He is the only boxer who has won a title in seven different weight classes and many would say that he is the greatest boxer in the world right until his losses in 2012.

He started boxing aged 14-years-old when he was living on the streets in Manila, Philippines and he had an amateur record of 60-4.

His last fight was against Floyd Mayweather at the MGM Grand May 2nd 2015; the fight took many years of negotiations and agreements. Pacquiao lost the fight by unanimous decision and said in his own defence that he was suffering from a shoulder injury throughout the fight.

1. Floyd Mayweather – $415 million

The Money Team, The Money Man, Floyd Mayweather is the undefeated champion of the world (his fight record is 48 (26KO)-0-0) and also the highest paid athlete on the planet as his current estimated worth is at a staggering $415 million. When he fought Manny Pacquiao in May 2015 the box-office sold 4.4 million views.

With this much money in the bank you would think he is 100% secure financially, however The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is owed $6.1 million in back taxes and he was also sued for $1.7 million when he backed out of a real estate purchase that was worth $8.5 million. Then in 2009 he was sued for failing to make a payment on his Mercedes Mayback 57S and he had to borrow $415,000 to pay for the car after he reportedly hadn’t made any payments in over a year. He also took a tough blow when over $7 million worth of jewelry was stolen from his own home.

He was also sued for $20 million by the mother of his three children – Josie Harris.

Compiled by: Adekunle Adewale