Sports | athletes Among World's 100 Highest Paid Athletes, 0 Women Boxer Floyd Mayweather comes out on top By Arden Dier Posted Jun 8, 2018 8:31 AM CDT Copied Floyd Mayweather, right, hits Conor McGregor during a super welterweight boxing match in Las Vegas on Aug. 26, 2017. (AP Photo/Eric Jamison, File) Women in sports say Forbes' annual list of the world's highest-paid athletes is proof that the gender pay gap is real and pressing. That's because—for the first time in eight years—not a single woman made the cut. The highest-paid female athlete in 2017—the year she gave birth to a daughter—was Serena Williams. Her $18 million puts her roughly $5 million below the take of the man to hold the 100th spot, Nicolas Batum of the Charlotte Hornets, who made $22.9 million, reports NBC News. "When more men in power become allies and care about gender equality, the power differential will shift," former tennis champ Billie Jean King says in a tweet. They top-earners for 2017 are: Floyd Mayweather (boxing): $285 million Lionel Messi (soccer): $111 million Cristiano Ronaldo (soccer): $108 million Conor McGregor (MMA): $99 million Neymar (soccer): $90 million LeBron James (basketball): $85.5 million Roger Federer (tennis): $77.2 million Stephen Curry (basketball): $76.9 million Matt Ryan (football): $67.3 million Matthew Stafford (football): $59.5 million Stafford is also the NFL's highest-paid player ever. The full list of 100 is here. Read These Next Beyonce leaves national anthem unfinished. Musk says his new party is in business. See the best BBQ cities in the US. Iraq's national game of deception brings out the best bluffers. Report an error