Floyd Mayweather Jr. of the U.S. arrives in a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse
IN PHOTO: WBC/WBA welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. of the U.S. arrives in a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse during a media day at the Mayweather Boxing Club in Las Vegas, Nevada September 2, 2014. Mayweather will face Marcos Maidana of Argentina in a rematch at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on September 13, 2014. REUTERS/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus

Floyd Mayeather Jr. calls himself “The Best Ever” but after the fight against Manny Pacquiao in May, he might want to add “The Richest Ever” as well as the undefeated American will become the highest-earning sports superstar in a span of a year after the super fight in Las Vegas.

According to Forbes.com, Mayweather’s May 2015 earnings will translate to the “biggest yearly earnings by an athlete ever” beating the previous mark set in 2008 by golf superstar Tiger Woods, who earned an “inflation-adjusted” $125 million that year. Mayweather Jr. will join the likes of former boxers Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Formula 1 star Michael Schumacher, former National Basketball Association superstar Michael Jordan as some of the athletes who had earned more than $100 million over a span of 12 months.

Mayweather Jr. is set to earn at least $150 million in his mega-bout against Pacquiao, who himself will earn at least $100 million. Both figures are also expected to rise as the final numbers for the pay-per-view, or PPV sales are pegged to break record numbers just like the high expectations for live gates ticket sales.

The record for the PPV buys was set by the Mayweather vs. Oscar De La Hoya fight at 2.4 million individual subscriptions and the record for PPV sales was set by the Mayweather vs. Alvarez fight at $152 million. The Mayweather-Pacquiao PPV rate is expected to be priced at $89 per subscriber for standard definition and $99 for high-definition buys.

All in all, Mayweather Jr. will easily break the $200 million mark in a 12-month stretch after getting paid at least $32 million in his fight versus Alvarez in September of 2014. What makes the feat more impressive for Mayweather Jr. is that his total salary doesn’t include endorsement deals, which is normal for other sports’ richest like Woods and Jordan.

As per the Forbes’ guidelines in computing projected and actual earnings, the figures include reported “salaries, bonuses, prize money, appearance fees, as well as licensing and endorsement income paid”.

While not mentioned in the article, Pacquiao will also break Woods’ single year record as the eight-division champion earned about $25 million in his fight against Chris Algieri last Nov. 2014 plus the potential over-$100M payday in May 2015.

Mayweather vs. Pacquiao is set on May 2, 2015 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada and dubbed by many boxing enthusiasts as the “Fight of the Century” and easily the all-time richest sporting event as well.

To contact author of this article, email j.quizon@IBTimes.com.au.

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