Crime Beat: Floyd Mayweather Sued Over Exhibition Contract

What To Know

• Hall of Fame boxer Floyd Mayweather was hit with a civil lawsuit over a contract dispute for exhibition fights with Mike Tyson and Manny Pacquiao.
• Promoters claim they are out $4.5 million in advance payments to Mayweather.
• The civil suit followed felony charges this week over a bounced check for a luxury watch in Las Vegas.

On the brink of Floyd Mayweather’s return to the ring for an exhibition match in Greece comes new of new legal problems for the undefeated Hall of Fame fighter. New claims threaten not only to cancel the June 27 matchup, but announced bouts between Mayweather and Mike Tyson, and more concerning, a bout planned in September against Manny Pacquiao.

TMZ Sports broke the news on Friday about a lawsuit filed by CSI Entertainment suing Mayweather, claiming it paid millions for the exclusive rights securing the two bouts matching up Mayweather with Tyson and Pacquiao in 2026.

CSI is asking for $6.65 million in restitution from Mayweather and Frist Apex Ventures, the co-defendant in the case that CSI said acted as Mayweather’s representative, in a lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York.

CSI claims it paid $4.5 million upfront to Mayweather’s management company Frist Apex Ventures in multiple payments for those exclusive rights to the fights. It also maintains Mayweather personally signed off on the deal.

The Tyson matchup was reportedly planned for May 30. However, with little news coming out and no promotion to speak of, the fight was postponed to this fall when Tyson broke his hand in sparring.

But with the Mayweather vs Pacquiao 2 matchup announced to great fanfare by Netflix for September 25, these conflicting bits of news raised a lot of questions. If Mayweather was contractually committed to the Pacquiao rematch in September, how would the Tyson fight figure in? Would the schedule be backed up, or would the Tyson fight be put on hold? Or take place at all?

Then, according to the lawsuit, Mayweather surprised CSI by announcing this month’s pay-per-view exhibition fight with kickboxer Mike Zambidis, which would also throw a wrench into the schedule planned for the Tyson and Pacquiao fights.

This chaos behind the scenes came with a significant cost. CSI alleges in its lawsuit that Mayweather went behind its back to set up the Zambidis exhibition and circumvented the company to set up the deal with Netflix and Pacquiao’s team.

An initial announcement that the fight would take place at the Sphere in Las Vegas further muddied the situation. Since then, the proposed dates have been booked, and the Sphere is no longer available.

CSI asked the court to place a permanent injunction on Mayweather’s fight against Zambidis because it breaches Mayweather’s CSI deal. CSI filed an emergency injunction application in federal court to try to stop the fight.

Mayweather’s Response

Within the past 24 hours, Mayweather posted what appears to be a direct response to the news on his Instagram account. It reads: “Good press, bad press, fact or fiction… pick your poison. Every headline keeps my name in circulation and everything in motion. I appreciate it all. Keep the press coming!”

Apparently, NY Fights is now part of the situation.

Will Any Planned Fights Take Place?

In both cases, there are disputes over whether the fights are exhibitions or sanctioned bouts. Pacquiao’s team insists he would only face Mayweather in a sanctioned professional rematch.

CSI is asking for its money back from Mayweather, plus damages. It is also asking the court to stop Mayweather from fighting in the exhibition match with Zambidis and to prevent the Netflix event from taking place in violation of their exclusive deal.

All of this comes on the heels of news this week that Mayweather is being charged by the Clark County (Nevada) District Attorney’s office with two felony charges for passing a $200,000 bad check intended to pay for a luxury watch.

Never mind the various civil lawsuits and squabbles over fight dates in the fall and money changing hands. They will mean nothing if Mayweather is behind bars due to a felony conviction.

Did Floyd Mayweather Squander His Fortune?

 

At age 49, it’s an incredibly sad state of affairs if Mayweather’s financial problems are forcing him to take exhibition fights because he’s squandered the fortune he made as a superstar audience draw during his Hall of Fame boxing career. He was long considered the richest boxer of all time, with roughly $1.1 billion in career earnings and an estimated net worth of $400 million.

But Dave Hall, Mayweather’s longtime accountant in the early 2000s, said Mayweather spent heavily without setting aside enough to pay his taxes. Unpaid taxes to the federal government carry interest in the double digits.

Taxpayers in arrears are also assessed interest when they fail to withhold enough throughout the year. Income tax is due when the income is earned, not on April 15. There is also a negligence penalty if taxes are filed late. The only bullet Mayweather dodges is state taxes, since he is a resident of Nevada.

Those bills on high income add up fast. Ask Mike Tyson. Tyson earned $400 million during his active career, but he was forced to file for bankruptcy in 2003 due to his massive tax debts. He joked that he was the IRS’s best employee because all his earnings went toward paying off his arrears, which totaled approximately $13.4 million.

The IRS eventually forgave Tyson $2 million of that debt, and he no longer owes any additional payments.

Mayweather blew some of his fortune on bad investments and on the drain of maintaining multiple homes, a fleet of luxury cars, and a massive entourage long after his peak earning years. His expensive taste in watches and his well-known penchant for big-time, big-money betting on sports need to get a serious reset before he ends up with nothing for all his accomplishments in boxing.