How Floyd "MONEY" Mayweather Became Boxing's First $1 Billion Fighter

Floyd Mayweather squares off against Conor McGregor Saturday night in Las Vegas in the much-hyped fight that is one-part boxing and four parts spectacle.  Most boxing experts gave McGregor little chance, but the one sure bet Saturday night was both fighters pocketed massive paychecks for their at-most 36 minutes of work in the ring. McGregor cleared at least $100 million with Mayweather in line for more than $200 million, pushing his career earnings close to $1 billion.

Mayweather’s road to $1 billion was paved by shrewd marketing and a prescient $750,000 bet on himself.  Notorious gambler Mayweather didn’t wager on himself in the ring, but outside of it by splitting from Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum a decade ago. 

Mayweather figured he could make more out on his own than under the thumb of the promoter who worked with Muhammad Ali, Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao.

Arum promoted Floyd under his Pretty Boy moniker during the first decade of Mayweather’s professional career after the 1996 Summer Olympics. It was a fruitful partnership as Mayweather remained undefeated with a growing paycheck. 

After reeling off 17 straight wins, he won his first title in 1998 with a technical knockout of Genaro Hernandez and earned $150,000. 

His first two pay-per-view bout came in 2005 and 2006 against Arturo Gatti and Zab Judah had PPV buy rates of 365,000 and 375,000. Mayweather’s paychecks were consistently in the $3 million range. 

Mayweather wanted more though. 

He had an opt-out clause in his Top Rank contract with a $750,000 payment releasing from the deal in 2006. “Floyd walked into Top Rank’s office, handed them a check and the rest is history,” said Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe two years ago in an interview with Forbes.

Mayweather started his own promotion company. He transformed from Pretty Boy to Money Mayweather. Mayweather became the ultimate showman. 

He appeared on Dancing with the Stars and WrestleMania. He built a social media following that numbers 37 million followers today on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. “He had the great vision to take his brand to the next level,” said Ellerbe.

Mayweather’s paychecks soared with him calling the shots. He pocketed $25 million for his split decision win over Oscar De La Hoya in 2007. The bout smashed the record for PPV buys with 2.48 million. The De La Hoya fight was the first of 12 straight paydays of $25 million or more for Mayweather.

The creation of Mayweather Promotions allowed all the revenue streams to flow through Mayweather. The middleman was out.

Mayweather signed a blockbuster six-fight deal with Showtime in 2013 to broadcast his fights through its PPV arm and appear on its All Access series. 

Mayweather had been an HBO guy during his career, but Showtime made an offer he couldn’t refuse in its attempt to build a rival to HBO in the boxing game. The Showtime pact raised his per fight guaranteed at least $32 million, plus his share of PPV receipts.

The deal turned into the most lucrative in the history of sports thanks hugely anticipated fights with Canelo Alvarez and Pacquiao. The Canelo fight in Sept. 2013 broke the record for PPV revenue with $153 million. Mayweather’s guarantee was a record $41.5 million and he earned more than $30 million on top of that from his cut of revenue.

The May 2015 Pacquiao fight set every financial record for combat sports that Mayweather-McGregor is aiming for with PPV buys (4.6 million), PPV revenue ($440 million) and gate receipts ($72 million). Mayweather’s final payday after all the PPV receipts were counted was near $250 million for the lackluster bout. His total take during the Showtime deal topped $450 million over two-and-a-half years.

Mayweather retired when his Showtime deal was up in 2015, but he returned to the ring Saturday night for a second nine-figure payday. His guarantee Saturday is $100 million (McGregor is $30 million) with both fighters sharing in the PPV upside. Mayweather’s first 15 fights on PPV generated 19.5 million buys and generated $1.3 billion in PPV revenue.

Since the McGregor fight is a PPV hit as most people expected (the line in Vegas is 4.99 million buys), Mayweather’s career total earnings reach $1 billion. 

He joins two other iconic athletes whose earnings reached $1 billion in Michael Jordan ($1.5 million) and Tiger Woods ($1.4 billion) with both relying on endorsements for more than 90% of their career haul. 

If you adjust for inflation, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Michael Schumacher also make the grade in this exclusive club.