Floyd Mayweather Jr. the Highest-Paid Athlete of Year, Taking Spot Tiger Woods Has Held Since 2001 (Photos)

by Jen Slothower on Tue, Jun 19, 2012 at 10:02AM

Floyd Mayweather Jr. may be taking a sabbatical from raking in the dough while in jail, but he’ll have plenty of cash waiting for him when he gets out.

Mayweather has passed Tiger Woods as the highest-paid athlete of the year, the first time since 2001 that Woods hasn’t had the Forbes.com distinction.

Woods made $59.4 million this year, but that only puts him in third place, after Mayweather’s $85 million, gathered from wins over Victor Ortiz and Miguel Cotto this year.

Boxing’s other big name, Manny Pacquiao, took the No. 2 spot on the list, with $62 million.

LeBron James placed fourth, making $53 million, much of it from endorsements. Another 12 basketball players made the Top 100, compared to 30 football players, the most of any sport represented on the list. The leader of that group is Peyton Manning, with $42.4 million, 10th on the Top 100. Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez was tops among baseball players at No. 18 overall with $33 million while Patriots quarterback Tom Brady came in at No. 28 ($27.1 million).

Woods’ $59.4 million is $16 million less than last year, and about half of what he made in 2009, before messy details of his personal life surfaced and gouged his endorsement base.

Click here to see the Top 10 highest-paid athletes from Forbes>>