&As money drops for the power earners of sports, Tyson Fury bulldozed his way to the top of the pile as the highest-paid boxer in 2020.
This year’s pandemic has seen a huge gulf in checks cashed by the best athletes on the planet. But saying that, Tyson Fury still managed to bank a whopping $57 million over the past year.
Overall, money in sport was down for the first time since Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao‘s amazing $400 million PPV event in 2015.
Tennis legend Roger Federer leads the way above footballers Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, all three of whom earned over $100 million.
In terms of presence, the NBA and NFL have the most representatives on the list. Boxing has four.
Anthony Joshua came in second just ahead of Deontay Wilder, debunking promoter Eddie Hearn’s theory that his star-fighter can earn way than both by forging an off-US PPV career.
Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez is the only other boxer on the list. The four-weight ruler bagged $37 million from his contract with DAZN.
UFC star Conor McGregor, who dabbled in pugilism back in 2017, is sandwiched between Fury and Joshua at 16.
FORBES TOP 100 ATHLETES 2020:
#1 Roger Federer
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo
#3 Lionel Messi
#4 Neymar
#5 LeBron James
#6 Stephen Curry
#7 Kevin Durant
#8 Tiger Woods
#9 Kirk Cousins
#10 Carson Wentz
11 to 20
#11 Tyson Fury – $57 million
#12 Russell Westbrook
#13 Lewis Hamilton
#14 Rory McIlroy
#15 Jared Goff
#16 Conor McGregor
#17 James Harden
#18 Giannis Antetokounmpo
#19 Anthony Joshua $47 million
#20 Deontay Wilder $46.5 million
21 to 50
#21 Tom Brady
#22 Drew Brees
#23 Novak Djokovic
#24 Kyrie Irving
#25 Phil Mickelson
#26 Julio Jones
#27 Rafael Nadal
#28 Klay Thompson
#29 Naomi Osaka
#30 Canelo Alvarez $37 million
#30 Damian Lillard
#32 Sebastian Vettel
#33 Serena Williams
#34 Mohamed Salah
#35 Chris Paul
#36 Kylian Mbappe
#37 Grady Jarrett
#38 Paul George
#39 Michael Thomas
#40 Kei Nishikori
#41 Blake Griffin
#42 John Wall
#43 Kawhi Leonard
#44 Anthony Davis
#45 Aaron Rodgers
#46 Andres Iniesta
#47 Matt Ryan
#48 Daniel Ricciardo
#49 Mesut Ozil
#50 Kyle Lowry
#50 Paul Pogba
51 to 100
#52 Jimmy Butler
= Gordon Hayward
& Jordan Spieth
= Kemba Walker
#56 Oscar
#57 Clayton Kershaw
#57 Zion Williamson
#59 Arik Armstead
#60 Joel Embiid
#60 Antoine Griezmann
#62 Devin Booker
#63 Christian McCaffrey
#63 D’Angelo Russell
#65 Darius Slay
#66 Virat Kohli
#67 David De Gea
#67 Kevin Love
#69 Alexis Sánchez
#70 Ryan Tannehill
#71 Mike Conley, Jr.
#71 Tobias Harris
#73 Gareth Bale
#74 Bobby Wagner
#75 Amari Cooper
#76 DeMar DeRozan
#77 Robert Quinn
#78 Kristaps Porzingis
#79 Al Horford
#80 Trae Waynes
#81 Dante Fowler, Jr.
#82 Khris Middleton
#83 Marcus Mariota
#84 C.J. McCollum
#85 Nick Bosa
#85 Shaq Thompson
#87 Karl-Anthony Towns
#88 Philip Rivers
#89 Ezekiel Elliott
#89 Paul Millsap
#91 Ben Roethlisberger
#92 Andrus Peat
#93 Andre Drummond
#94 D.J. Reader
#94 Quinnen Williams
#96 Bradley Beal
#97 Cam Newton
#98 Calais Campbell
#99 Derek Carr
#100 Sergio Ramos
