Floyd Mayweather says he made $100 million from ‘fake fight’

Floyd Mayweather is arguably the best boxer in modern history. He has an enviable record in the world, fighting 50 times and winning on all occasions. His fight records have also catapulted him into one of the highest sports earners in the world.

Worth $450 million per projections by Celebrity Net Worth, Mayweather has made $1.1 billion in his total career earnings. He is also the fifth highest-paid athlete of all time. The other five are Michael Schumacher ($1 billion), Jack Nicklaus ($1.15 billion), Arnold Palmer ($1.35 billion), Tiger Woods ($1.65 billion), and Michael Jordan ($1.9 billion).

Mayweather retired from boxing after his mouthwatering bout with Conor McGregor. However, he recently came out of retirement to fight Youtuber-turned-boxer Logan Paul at the Hardrock Stadium in Miami in an exhibition match.

The 44-year-old and Logan fought in an eight-round bout, an event that went the full distance after Mayweather failed to knockout his novice opponent. The bout drew widespread criticism from boxing analysts because it was “unreal” but it was Mayweather who laughed all the way to the bank.

The boxer boasted that he made $100 million from the “fake fight” at a press briefing when his protégé Gervonta Davis recently knocked out Mario Barrios to claim the WBA super lightweight title.

“I’m the only person that can do a fake fight and get 100 M’s (millions),” Mayweather said.“ I could do legalized sparring and get 100 M’s. Am I the best bank robber? Cause I don’t know nobody in sports that’s my age that can still stick ’em up like that.”

Despite claiming to have made $100 million from his bout with Logan, the Mirror reports that the money he made from the fight fell short of the figure he quoted. According to the report, the exhibition bout generated $50 million from the sales on Showtime and Fanmio in the United States.

Mirror further reported that Mayweather agreed to a deal to earn 50 percent of the pay-per-view sales, making his share around $25m. He also received a $10m flat fee and claimed he earned $30m from the sponsors on his shorts, taking his total earnings to $65m.

Meanwhile, the boxer has ruled out coming out of retirement to fight again. “I am going into the Hall of Fame,” he said after his bout with Logan. “I have nothing to prove.”

“If they are happy with grappling and holding for eight rounds, that’s good for them – I hope the fans were pleased.

“I have been in this sport for so long, I was letting people see I can come out at the age of 44 and bring 30,000 to the stadium and bring good pay-per-view numbers,” he added. “Will I make a comeback? Absolutely not. I have retired from the sport of boxing. I probably won’t do an exhibition again either.”