Whether or not it’s right, professional athletes are some of the highest-paid individuals in the world, outearning rocket scientists, neurosurgeons, world leaders, and even online magazine writers (gasp!). There are dozens of different ways to calculate an athlete’s salary – with or without endorsements, contracts vs. annual salaries, signing bonuses, etc. For the purposes of this comparison, we’ll be looking at the all-time top single-season earners in the world’s most popular sports. So apologies to all those diehard bikini football fans out there – you’ll have to wait for a slightly larger fan base to get the results of that one.

[center]Boxing: Floyd Mayweather – $85 million (2012)[/center]

Undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr., also known as Money May, is a five-division world champion, winning eight world titles, multiple Fighter of the Year Awards, and is considered the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world. But his incredible $85 million paycheck in 2012 came from just two fights! Acting as his own fight promoter (through his company, Mayweather Promotions), he was able to retain the full $40 million from the fight against Victor Ortiz and $45 million against Miguel Cotto. Interesting sidenote: the IRS reported that Mayweather actually owes over $6 million in back taxes. Just one question: How?

Formula 1 Driving: Kimi Räikkönen – $51 million (2007)[center][/center]

Finnish racing driver Kimi Räikkönen originally entered Formula 1 as a regular driver for Sauber-Petronas in 2001 and switched to McLaren Mercedes in 2002. But after runner-up losses to Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso in the championship due to the unreliability of the McLaren cars, he made the move to Ferrari in 2007. It was this move that netted him the highest salary of any driver in motor sport, as well as securing his first Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship! Apparently the move was well worth it, in more ways than one.

Basketball: Michael Jordan – $33.14 million (1997-1998)[center][/center]

It’s pretty incredible that the highest paid NBA player remains somebody from the 90s, even if it is His Airness. As it is, Mikey is the only player to ever make over $30 million in a single season without counting endorsements (or the hefty sum I’m sure he got from making the smash hit movie, “Space Jam”). So to all the haters that still yell about Kobe or Lebron being the best players to ever grace the NBA – money talks. So you shouldn’t.
*Note: Michael Jordan is an anomaly when it comes to NBA salaries – he is the only player to ever make $30 million or more in a season. Traditionally, MLB players make much more than NBA players, as there is no salary cap in baseball.
Baseball: Alex Rodriguez – $33 million (2009)
Ah, A-Rod. The youngest player to ever hit 600 home runs, the only person to ever have 14 100-RBI seasons, and the all-time leader in home runs by a player of Hispanic descent, it is not surprising that he is considered one of the best baseball players of all time. Playing third baseman for the Yankees, he signed a 10-year, $275 million contract in 2007, breaking the record for the richest contract in baseball history (and since his steroid scandal came before his time with the Yankees, it seems that he didn’t really need them after all!) – which is doubly impressive, given that there are more highly-paid athletes in baseball than in any other sport.

Soccer: Samuel Eto’o – $30,248,060 (2012)[center][/center]

Despite all the hype around Beckham, Ronaldo, and Messi, it is Samuel Eto’o who is.....http://sportshubng.com/highest-paid-sportsmen-world/