Floyd Mayweather Could Make More From Logan Paul Fight Than Michael Jordan's Career NBA Salary

Over the weekend, YouTube star Logan Paul fought professional boxer Floyd Mayweather in an exhibition fight. The fight, which saw strong demand from pay per views and was a trending topic all weekend, could turn into a huge payday for both fighters.

What Happened: In March, Mayweather suggested he could earn $100 million for fighting Logan Paul, who rose to fame on YouTube, a unit of Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL.

“I can fight a fighter right now and I can guarantee myself $35 million,” Mayweather said. “Or me and Logan Paul can go out, entertain, have fun and make nine figures, $100 million or more.”

Mayweather is earning $10 million and 50% from all pay-per-view buys from the fight, which aired from Showtime, a unit of ViacomCBS Inc VIAC.

Paul is being paid $250,000 and 10% of all pay-per-view buys.

No figures have been announced on how many people purchased the pay-per-view fight, but based on the strong pre-fight interest and the trending topics of the weekend, the figure should be large.

Related Link: 10 Highest Paid Athletes And How They Made Their Money

Why It’s Important: The potential $100 million amount for the fight that Mayweather could earn is staggering. What’s even more impressive is the amount Mayweather was paid for the one exhibition fight could be more than one of the greatest athletes of all time earned during his playing career.

Jordan played 16 seasons with the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards in the National Basketball Association. Jordan earned $93.8 million in salary across the 16 seasons. 

Jordan was paid $500,00 for the 1984-1985 season and earned over $30 million in each of the 1996-1997 and 1997-1998 seasons.

Jordan was paid $1 million for each of his seasons with the Wizards.

Jordan is the richest former athlete thanks to a number of endorsement deals and his ownership of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets.

Jordan is valued at a net worth of $1.6 billion, according to Business Insider. The NBA star has equity in DraftKings Inc DKNG and has endorsement deals with Nike Inc NKE and PepsiCo PEP.

Forbes estimates that Jordan earns $145 million annually from endorsement deals.

Jordan purchased the Hornets for $175 million in 2010 and has seen the team's valuation rise to $1.5 billion.

Mayweather’s fight earned him a nice salary and potentially a nice payout from pay-per-view buys. One fight in boxing or UFC can make a fighter a significant amount of money that can dwarf the massive salaries that are paid to athletes in the big four sports leagues.