Forbes has just released its list of The World’s Highest Paid Athletes. Each athlete’s salaries, bonuses, prize money, endorsements and licensing income between June 2008 and June 2009 were considered. When the final tally was made, it’s no surprise that Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao is in that list. After all, his last two fights against Oscar dela Hoya and Ricky Hatton have both raked-in millions of dollars in ticket, merchandise and pay-per-view sales.

From the Forbes’ web site,

The highest-ranking of the four newcomers to the list is boxer Manny Pacquiao who earned $40 million over the last year, tied for the sixth most. Pacquiao cemented his claim as the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter with convincing knockouts of Oscar De La Hoya in December and Ricky Hatton in May. The two blockbuster fights garnered more than 2 million pay-per-view buys in the U.S. and earned Pac-Man $30 million combined.

Pacquiao’s massive popularity in his native Philippines is why companies like Nike and San Miguel beer have signed him to endorse their products. Pacquiao intends to use that popularity to run for political office when his ring career is over.

This is already the third prestigious list this year where The Pacman is included. The 2008 Fighter of the Year has earlier been ranked 22nd on Time Magazine’s Top  100 Most Influential People List and 57th on the Forbes Celebrity 100 List.

Professional golfer Tiger Woods is the highest paid athlete with total earnings of $110 million. He has now held the top spot for eight years running.

From the basketball world, the following athletes made it: Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan (tied for 2nd), Lebron James (tied for 6th), Shaquille O’Neal (tied for 11th) and Kevin Garnett (tied for 17th).

What list might be next for Manny to conquer?

Please read my related posts:

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Tags: filipino, forbes, list, manny pacquiao, pacman