In No.1 spot for the past decade is Floyd Mayweather, the American boxing icon who held multiple world titles in five weight classes and has an unbeaten professional record of 50 wins from 50 bouts. Mayweather, who is nicknamed “Money”, raked in $915m (£698.3m) from 2010 to 2019.

His two mega-fights - against Manny Pacquiao in 2015 and Conor McGregor in 2017 - earned him $500m (£381.7m) during the lucrative ten years. According to Forbes Floyd Mayweather made $115m (£87.8m) more than any other sports star during the decade “without collecting a single paycheck from a team owner or an eye-popping sponsorship deal”.

In November it was reported that the 42-year-old is planning on coming out of retirement in 2020. Football rivals rank high Second and third on the list behind boxing icon Floyd Mayweather are football stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Juventus and Portugal captain Ronaldo amassed $800m (£610.5m) from 2010 to 2019 while his great rival Messi, who plays for Barcelona and Argentina, pocketed $750m (£572.4m). In its list of the world’s highest-paid athletes for 2019, Forbes reported that Messi took the No.1 spot ahead of Ronaldo after earning $127m (£99.9m) from June 2018 to June 2019.

Serena Williams the highest-paid women Making up the top ten list for the decade are NBA stars LeBron James and Kevin Durant, tennis icon Roger Federer, golf’s Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, boxer Manny Pacquiao and Britain’s six-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Top ten highest-paid athletes of the decade:

1. Floyd Mayweather (boxing): $915m (£698.3m) 

2. Cristiano Ronaldo (football): $800m (£610.5m) 

3. Lionel Messi (football): $750m (£572.4m) 

4. LeBron James (NBA): $680m (£518.9m) 

5. Roger Federer (tennis): $640m (£488.3m) 

6. Tiger Woods (golf): $615m (£469.2m) 

7. Phil Mickelson (golf): $480m (£366.2m) 

8. Manny Pacquiao (boxing): $435m (£331.9m)

9. Kevin Durant (NBA): $425m (£324.2m) 

10. Lewis Hamilton (Formula 1): $400m (£305.2m)