Manny Pacquiao comes up short against Floyd Mayweather again – this time in the dollar department

Floyd “Money” Mayweather has beaten Manny Pacquiao again: the undefeated US boxer leads his Filipino rival atop Forbes’ latest list of the world’s highest-paid sports figures.

Mayweather tops the list for the second year in a row with the majority of his US$300 million in earnings over the past 12 months coming from his May mega-fight with Pacquiao.

Thanks to his take from the fight, Pacquiao is second on the list released on Wednesday with US$160 million in earnings, joining Mayweather and Tiger Woods as the only sportsmen to earn nine figures in a 12-month period.

The highest-grossing fight in history, which generated US$400 million in US revenue, accounts for much of the US$460 million earnings increase on the 2015 list, Forbes said.

According to the financial magazine’s calculations – which take into account salaries, bonuses, prize money, appearance fees and estimated licensing and endorsement income – the top 100 earned a total of US$3.2 billion over the last 12 months.

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo edged Barcelona rival Lionel Messi for third on the list, with Ronaldo coming in at US$79 million and Messi US$73.8 million.