By Brian Chekal
Fans of American boxing have much to anticipate this upcoming weekend when the widely followed Floyd Mayweather Jr. is set to fight in the rink against Marcos Maidana. Mayweather comes as the clear favorite, with leading analyzers pitting the odds at 11 -1 in his favor. This comes at no surprise however, Mayweather not only has six boxing championship titles under his belt across 5 different weight classes but also the distinction of never losing a single match in his entire career. He plans to add this weekend’s match onto that list at number 46.
Though his many fans may be familiar with Mayweather’s flashy style of boxing and his proclivity for attention, they may be surprised to find that his personal finances are even more robust than he is. In layman’s terms, Mayweather is rich, immensely so. He sports a $400,000 Rolex that was a gift from the MGM Grand hotel, where his fights have sold out, and has a garage filled with over 88 cars, ranging from Maybachs and Rolls Royces to Ferraris and Lamborghinis, not to mention a Bugatti Veyron.
If his lavish garage didn’t convince you, the raw numbers surely will. Though he has few corporate sponsorships, Mayweather makes, on average, $80 million on any given year he fights, with his earnings since May 2013 expected to surpass the $150 million mark after Saturday’s fight with Maidana. For perspective, Mayweather’s opponent, Marocs Maidana, is only being guaranteed $1.5 million for Saturday’s fight, $30 million less than the Mayweather.
Before you feel sympathy for Maidana and his measly millions, realize that both are projected to rake in large windfalls from their respective shares of the fight’s pay-per-view revenues. $70 per view multiplied across the over 1 million projected viewers is a princely sum that may even get Mayweather to stop and pay attention.
The numbers all seem to grow bigger and bigger, with no end in sight, and for those outside the rink it may be easy to overlook them while caught in the heat of the fight. The truth of the matter is the growing size of the checks we make out to top sports stars shouldn’t be outstripping our society’s investments in more meaningful areas, such as scholarships for prospective college students and caring for the disadvantaged. Why is it that we focus less and less on helping others during a rough economic slowdown, yet continue to finance the $30 million parking garages of people who fight twice a year at best?