Just when you thought Floyd Mayweather had retired from collecting giant paychecks, he’s back in the headlines. This time, however, it’s not because of a flashy exhibition fight or a social media flex involving private jets and stacks of cash. No! It’s because a boxing promoter is suing him for a whopping $4.65 million.
According to the lawsuit, the promoter claims they handed Floyd nearly five million dollars in advance payments for two dream matchups against Mike Tyson and Manny Pacquiao. Sounds like the kind of fights boxing fans would happily empty their wallets to watch.
There’s just one tiny problem. The promoter says those fights never happened.
Now they’re demanding their money back, which is probably an awkward conversation when the person you’re asking is literally nicknamed “Money.”
The lawsuit alleges that Mayweather accepted the advance payments connected to the proposed mega-fights and then walked away from the deals. If true, that’s the boxing equivalent of taking the deposit for a wedding cake and then disappearing to an island somewhere.
According to the explosive lawsuit filed Thursday in New York and obtained by TMZ Sports, CSI Entertainment claims they paid millions for exclusive rights for two major Mayweather bouts.
The first, they say, was for an exhibition fight vs. Iron Mike … followed by a rematch with Manny, where Floyd would be risking his unblemished 50-0 undefeated record.
CSI claims they made $4.5 million in combined payments to Mayweather’s management company, Frist Apex Ventures, to get the exclusive rights to the events … and says Floyd personally signed off on the deal.
As of now, Floyd hasn’t been ordered to pay anything, and the allegations remain claims in a lawsuit. The legal process will play out before anyone starts counting money or losses.
FWIW, Mayweather is currently suing Frist Apex Ventures (along with his former manager) for $175 million, alleging fraud.
CSI says Floyd wasted no time turning on them, claiming the day after they paid him a separate $150K advance, he announced he was fighting Greek kickboxer Mike Zambidis instead of Tyson … with a different promoter.
They also claim Mayweather secretly signed a separate deal with another company to stream the fight with Pacquiao on Netflix from the Sphere in Las Vegas.
CSI says they already invested significant time and resources promoting both fights, and that losing the rights would cause them irreparable harm.
In addition to seeking damages or at least getting their money back, the promoters are also asking the court to stop Floyd from fighting Zambidis next week and to prevent the Netflix event from going in violation of their exclusive deal.
Whether this lawsuit ends in a settlement, a courtroom battle, or another chapter in boxing’s endless circus remains to be seen.
