Forbes: Pacquiao 8th richest athlete of the decade; Mayweather tops list

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao is the eighth wealthiest athlete in the world throughout the decade, according a list recently published by Forbes. 

Forbes said Pacquiao's "25 pay-per-view fights have generated 20 million buys and an estimated $1.3 billion in revenue," which culminated in hefty personal earnings of $435 million (over Php22 billion) that placed the fighting senator among the likes of golf legend Tiger Woods and Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James. 

He sits between the Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant and golfer Phil Mickelson in the list. 

Pacquiao started out the 2010s by dominating Joshua Clottey  to retain his WBO welterweight title in a fight that drew gate earnings of $6.3 million and $35.3 million in pay-per-view buys. 

Throughout his storied career, “Pac-Man” won 62 fights (including 39 knockouts), lost 7 and drew in two. He remains to be regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time. 

Twelve wins and four of those losses came in the last decade, which included a devastating knockout loss to archrival Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012. It came after Pacquiao’s earlier victory over the Mexican star in 2011, in their third meeting.

Pacquiao also faced Timothy Bradley Jr. twice in the 2010s, losing a controversial split-decision and later securing a unanimous verdict in 2016. 

Also topping the Forbes list was fellow boxer Floyd Mayweather, who earned more than $500 million combined for his 2015 and 2017 fights against Pacquiao and UFC star Conor McGregor, respectively. Mayweather won his megabuck 2015 bout with Pacquiao, scoring a unanimous decision. 

It was also reported by news outlets in May that Pacquiao stood among the most affluent of Senate lawmakers in the country after the boxer-senator declared a net worth of P3,005,808,000 in his 2018 statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) despite also ranking as the Senate's top absentee. 

Just the year before, Pacquiao’s SALN reflected a net worth of P2.9 billion. A similar list by Forbes published in 2015 saw the boxer notching the second spot as the second highest paid athlete in the world for that year.