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Floyd Mayweather Jr
Floyd Mayweather made the most money out of athletes last year. Reuters

Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been named by Forbes as the highest paid athlete in the past year, earning around $85m (£54m)

Mayweather, nicknamed "Money" because of his lavish lifestyle, knocked golfer Tiger Woods off the top spot, a position he has held since 2001.

Woods fell to third place having earned $59.4m despite many of his lucrative sponsorship deals falling through because of his personal life and a dip in his professional form.

Mayweather's boxing rival Manny Pacquiao was named the second highest earner with $62m.

Mayweather, who is currently serving a three-month jail term for assaulting his ex-girlfriend, earned his millions thanks two victorious fights against Victor Orttiz in September and Miguel Cotto in May.

Mayweather became the highest paid athlete after spending a little over one hour in the ring. He also acts as his own promoter, taking earnings from all of the tickets, pay-per-view and sponsorships for each of his fights.

Mayweather has been a part of the four biggest non-heavyweight PPV events in boxing history. His fight with Cotto generated $94 million in PPV buys.

Elsewhere on the list, Miami Heat star LeBron James comes in at fourth place with earnings of $53m, the highest-paid basketball of the 13 basketball players in the top 100.

Tennis star Roger Federer comes in at fifth pace with earnings of $52.7m.

There are only two women who made it into the top 100, tennis players Maria Sharapova with $27.9, (26<sup>th) and Li Na with $18.4m (81<sup>st).

There are a total of 30 American football players who made the list, more than any other sport. Indianapolis Colts star Peyton Manning is the top-earning NFL star with $42.4 million, which puts him in 10<sup>th overall.

The highest paid Englishman is LA Galaxy David Beckham, with the footballer and Olympic Ambassador earning $46m.

The world's 100 highest-paid athletes have jointly earned a total of $2.6 billion in the last 12 months.