Money by name, money by nature – Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather ended his professional career as not only one of the best boxers in history, but also one of the best-paid sports stars in the world.
However, that wasn’t always the case; in fact, ‘Money’ once needed to fork over ¾ of a million dollars to get out of his contract with Top Rank – that gamble more than paid off and paid out.
Floyd Mayweather’s ‘Money’ move: From $750K down to $650M up
Floyd Mayweather’s nickname might be ‘Money’, but the boxing legend needed to earn that moniker and did so with arguably the greatest financial decision in the sport’s history.
As Mayweather made his way up the ranks and into his first of many world title fights, he was fighting under the Top Rank banner – and whilst his partnership with Bob Arum was incredibly lucrative, it wasn’t lucrative enough for the sensational youngster.
“Floyd wanted to take his career in a new direction,” explained Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Promotions, to Forbes in 2015, revealing that “Floyd walked into Top Rank’s office, handed them a check and the rest is history.”
Mayweather had made sure that he had a rather special clause in his Top Rank contract, one that allowed him to essentially buy-out the remainder of his deal in order to go it alone – that price was reportedly set for $750,000.
Whilst his final two PPV bouts under Top Rank earned around 365,000 and 375,000 PPV buys each, his next bout only drew 325,000 buys – yet without having to split his paycheck with Arum, Mayweather took home a larger piece of the cake, around $8 million.
In May 2007, Mayweather secured his shot at the legendary Oscar De La Hoya and even before stepping into the ring against ‘Golden Boy’, Mayweather knew he was on track to become one of the sport’s biggest earners.
That iconic showdown generated almost 2.5 million PPV buys, with Mayweather reportedly making some $25 million, plus a couple of extra million for the PPV revenue share – pennies, compared to what he was about to make.
Mayweather’s growing success and bank account had caught the eye of several potential investors, including Showtime, who agreed a six-fight deal that would allegedly generate over $30 million for ‘Money’ each fight.
The records, revenue, and PPV sales then just kept coming and coming.
By the time 2015’s clash with Manny Pacquiao materialized, Mayweather was one of the most financially successful sports stars in the world – yet that bout with ‘Pac Man’, in addition to an insane cross-sport showdown with Conor McGregor a few years later, really took things to the next level.
In 2020, Mayweather stated: “Tell me another fighter that, in just two fights, made $650 million. For Pacquiao I made $300 million, for McGregor I made $350 million.”
- Mayweather vs Pacquiao (2015) – 4.6 million PPV buys (est. revenue $400M)
- Mayweather vs McGregor (2017) – 4.3 million PPV buys (est. revenue $370M)
- Mayweather vs De La Hoya (2007) – 2.4 million PPV buys (est. revenue $136M)
- Mayweather vs Canelo (2013) – 2.2 million PPV buys (est. revenue $150M)
- Mayweather vs Cotto (2012) – 1.5 million PPV buys (est. revenue $94M)
Given how his career, both in the ring and in the boardroom has gone, it’s hard to argue that the decision to leave Top Rank wasn’t, as Ellerbe stated: “The best investment in the history of sports.”