LIONEL MESSI was the world’s highest paid athlete over the past year, Forbes reported Tuesday in its annual sporting rich list.

Barcelona and Argentina star Messi dethroned retired boxer Floyd Mayweather as the sports world’s highest earner, raking in US$127 million via salary and endorsement deals.

That put Messi ahead of long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo, the Juventus and Portugal star who was second with earnings of US$109 million.

Brazil and Paris Saint-Germain striker Neymar completed a sweep of the top three positions by footballers, coming in third with earnings of US$105 million.

The fourth highest earner on the list was Mexico’s middleweight boxing star Saul “Canelo” Alvarez with US$94 million.

Alvarez, who defeated Gennady Golovkin last September to become the unified middleweight champion, inked the richest deal in boxing history last October, signing a five-year 11-fight contract with streaming network DAZN worth US$365 million.

Evergreen tennis star Roger Federer was fifth on the list with total earnings of US$93.4 million.

The bulk of Federer’s earnings came through lucrative endorsement deals, with the 20-time Grand Slam singles champion pocketing US$86 million.

(SD-Agencies)