Floyd Mayweather Not Getting $20 Million

by Jack Windham
March 27, 2008

On the Larry King Live show earlier tonight, wrestling fans realized the truth about Floyd Mayweather's Wrestlemania 24 paycheck.

$20 Million

When word first broke out that Floyd Mayweather had signed a deal with WWE to participate in Wrestlemania 24, a lot of sports experts were surprised.

Floyd Mayweather gets paid quite a bit of money in boxing, so the experts collectively wondered how much money it took for him to jump into a wrestling ring.

The figure revealed to the world was $20 million. The media was quick to pick up on that story because that's a huge sum of cash for WWE to pay him.

Well, it turns out that the $20 million was a figure thrown out there to generate more media attention.

Floyd Mayweather is not getting paid that much for Wrestlemania.

Larry King Live Show

On the Larry King Live Show, Vince McMahon, Floyd Mayweather and a couple of wrestlers made an appearance to promote Wrestlemania 24.

Larry King broached the topic of Floyd Mayweather's pay.

The boxer was quick to boast that WWE was paying him $20 million, which caused Larry King to pause awkwardly.

Rather than confirming it, Vince McMahon stated that he wouldn't be surprised if Floyd Mayweather ended up getting that much money.

You see, Vince McMahon has a long history with Larry King Live. He's one of the few media members that actually shows respect towards the wrestling industry.

It would not be in Vince McMahon's best interest to lie on the show.

To his credit, he didn't lie about the pay. He simply gave a quick answer and moved on.

Why Lie?

There are a lot of people that wonder why Floyd Mayweather would lie about how much he's getting paid for Wrestlemania 24.

Well, he's always wanted his fans to know that money is the most important thing to him. That's his gimmick, and it works out pretty well for him.

If he were to tell people a lesser amount, it wouldn't sound nearly as great of a deal as he'd want people to believe.

More than likely, Floyd Mayweather is going to get paid based on how well the pay per view does. He might even get a cut of the DVD sales.

Flody Mayweather will also get some up front money, but it's nowhere near the $20 million that is being claimed.

Closing Thoughts

This is a case where honesty doesn't sound nearly as exciting as stretching the truth.