Tiger Woods has been replaced by Floyd Mayweather as the world's highest earner in sport after an 11-year reign at the top.
Woods has slipped to third in the world's 100 highest-paid athletes list conducted by Forbes behind two boxers, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquaio.
Mayweather collected a total of 85million US dollars (£54.2m) for his two fights with Victor Ortiz in September and Miguel Cotto last month.
Forbes senior editor Kurt Badenhausen said: "There's a reason they call boxer Floyd Mayweather 'Money'.
"He fought twice during the past 12 months, spent less than one hour in the ring to dispatch his two foes - his combined payday for the bouts: 85 million dollars.
"Mayweather maximises his earnings by also acting as his own fight promoter through his company Mayweather Promotions.
"He collects all of the revenue from tickets, pay-per-view and sponsorships and covers the costs, including the purse for his opponent."
Pacquaio trails in £14.6m behind Mayweather, with Woods picking up £37.8m in total, with just £2.8m of that in earnings as the remainder comes from sponsorship endorsements.
David Beckham remains the highest earning footballer, picking up £29.3m, with £23.5m in endorsements, followed closely by Cristiano Ronaldo, with Lionel Messi just outside the top 10 in 11th.
Fernando Alonso comes in as Formula One's top earner at 19th with overall earnings of £29.4m, with MotoGP's seven-times champion Valentino Rossi 20th and seven-times F1 king Michael Schumacher 21st.
Lewis Hamilton is 24th, with Forbes suggesting earnings of £17.8m, with £15.9m of that in salary from McLaren, with Manchester United star Wayne Rooney at 37th with £15.5m.
Other notables see golf's current world number one Luke Donald at 48th, earning £14.17m, Chelsea captain John Terry equal 88th with £11.17m, Rory McIlroy 91st with £11.1m and Liverpool and England skipper Steven Gerrard 97th with £10.8m.
Just two women figure in the top 100, both from tennis, with world number one in Maria Sharapova 26th and Li Na 81st.
Robert Feeley
3:58pm on 19/6/2012
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