“Fighter of the Year” for 2008 Manny Pacquiao is not just the world’s best pound-for-pound boxer, he is also one of the globe’s highest-paid sportspersons.

Pacquiao, a newcomer in the roll, joins sports icons Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant in the latest “The World's Highest-Paid Athletes” list of Forbes Magazine.

“The Pacman” tied for the sixth spot along with 2009 NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James and golfer Phil Mickelson. They raked in $40 million last year.

His entry on Forbes.com states that Pacquiao “hogged the boxing spotlight over the past year with victories in two blockbuster fights,” pertaining to his eighth round TKO win over Oscar de la Hoya in December and second round KO of Ricky Hatton in May.

Such mega fights “generated more than $100 million in pay-per-view revenue in the US.” Due to his “massive popularity,” Pacquiao has numerous endorsement deals in the Philippines including those for San Miguel and Nike.

In an abs-cbnNEWS.com business article, it was stated that Pacquiao’s reported gross earnings from his fight with Hatton alone was just $4 million shy of the $16 million foreign investments that the entire Philippines attracted in February.

He reportedly earned $12 million for winning the “Battle of East and West,” excluding pay-per-view earnings.

“The People’s Champ” earlier debuted in the recent “Forbes Celebrity 100” topped by Angelina Jolie. The list named the 100 most powerful celebrities in the world.

In addition, Pacquiao was also included in Time Magazine's “100 Most Influential People” after receiving more than 20 million online votes. He was ranked 22nd in the list.

The Boxing Writers Association of America also declared Pacquiao the 2008 “Fighter of the Year.”

Meanwhile, lording over the world’s highest-paid athletes list is Tiger Woods with $110 million. He is expected to become the first athlete to earn $1 billion during a career, with almost $900 million in prize money, endorsements and appearance fees to date.

“Woods racked up more than twice the earnings of any other athlete over the past 12 months despite being sidelined for eight months after knee surgery thanks to lucrative endorsement deals with Accenture, Gillette and Nike as well as a thriving golf course design business,” noted Forbes.com.

Sharing the list’s second spot are Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and Kimi Raikkonen with $45 million.

“The Black Mamba's popularity is at its zenith as his No. 24 jersey is the top seller in the U.S., Europe and China,” Forbes.com said of Bryant, the 2009 NBA Finals MVP.

The magazine also mentioned that Jordan is “still the most famous athlete in the United States. The Jordan Brand is approaching $1 billion in sales for Nike which turned Jordan into a marketing phenomenon.”

Raikkonen managed to finish at No. 2 as he is Formula One's highest-paid driver. “This year has been even worse for the Iceman who sits in 10th place in the current standings. Ferrari resigned Raikkonen in September to a one-year contract extension keeping the Finn behind the wheel for Ferrari through 2010,” added Forbes.com.

David Beckham, meantime, clinched the No. 5 spot with $42 million. As mentioned, a triple tie among Pacquiao, James and Mickelson took over the sixth spot with $40 million.

Coming in at No. 9 is motorcycle racer Valentino Rossi with $35 million. Following suit in tenth place with $34 million is Nascar driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Five athletes, who earned $33 million each, tied for eleventh place. They are Roger Federer, Shaquille O'Neal, Oscar de la Hoya, Lewis Hamilton and Alex Rodriguez.

Golf’s Vijay Singh came in at No. 16 with $31 million.

Rounding up the list are Kevin Garnett, Jeff Gordon, Derek Jeter and Ronaldinho all at No. 17 with $30 million.