$7 Million Just Slipped Through Floyd Mayweather's Fingers As Lawsuits Cancel A Fight In Greece That Was Supposed To Happen Saturday

Over the last several months, Floyd Mayweather has been surrounded by a growing pileup of lawsuits, liens, unpaid-bill allegations, tax issues, rent disputes, and criminal charges. Back in January, we covered a lengthy investigation into Floyd Mayweather's finances that raised questions about loans, liens, foreclosures, unpaid bills, and asset sales. A month later, Floyd filed a $340 million lawsuit against Showtime, claiming a huge portion of his career earnings had been diverted into accounts he did not control. We later paid $19 to download the full complaint and broke down the specific allegations.

Then came the $330,000 unpaid rent lawsuit tied to a $100,000-per-month luxury Manhattan apartment. Then came a reported $7.3 million IRS lien. Then came Floyd's own $175 million lawsuit against former business associates, involving claims about missing money, Manhattan real estate, a Gulfstream jet, and $100 million in jewelry. Earlier this month, Floyd was hit with felony charges over an alleged $200,000 bad check used to buy a luxury watch.

Given all of the above, it certainly seems logical that Floyd could really use some liquid cash ASAP. That's what makes what just happened especially painful.

(Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

The Fight That Fell Apart

Up until a few hours ago, Floyd was scheduled to fight retired Greek kickboxer Mike Zambidis in Greece on Saturday.

On paper, it looked like exactly the kind of event Floyd has specialized in since retiring from professional boxing in 2017: low-risk, high-fee, built around his name, his undefeated record, and the curiosity factor of seeing "Money" Mayweather back in the ring. It was not a championship fight. It was not a major professional boxing comeback. It was a six-round exhibition against a 44-year-old former kickboxing star in Greece.

According to court filings, promoter Front Row had already paid Mayweather $3 million, plus travel expenses for his team, and that additional deals could have pushed Floyd's total payday to at least $10 million. In other words, had the fight happened on Saturday, Floyd could have made an easy $7 million.

Mayweather's manager, Walter Jordan, also claimed in a court filing that Floyd spent $250,000 of his own money on training camp for the Zambidis fight, money he says is not recoverable if the event remains canceled.

The CSI Lawsuit

A company called CSI Sports Events is currently suing Mayweather in federal court in the Southern District of New York, alleging breach of contract.

CSI claims it was contracted to produce two major Mayweather events: an exhibition against Mike Tyson, followed by a professional rematch against Manny Pacquiao. According to CSI, Mayweather was not allowed to participate in another bout before fulfilling his Tyson obligation.

According to reporting from longtime boxing journalist Dan Rafael, CSI claims it advanced Mayweather $4.5 million related to his guarantees for the Tyson and Pacquiao events and is seeking nearly $7 million in restitution from Mayweather and Frist Apex Ventures.

That matters because the Tyson fight was not some vague idea floating around boxing Twitter. According to the CSI lawsuit, Mayweather was supposed to earn $14 million in total compensation for the Tyson exhibition, including a $2 million advance that had already been paid through Frist Apex Ventures.

The Pacquiao rematch was even bigger. According to the lawsuit, Mayweather was set to earn $35 million plus 20% of event revenues for any pay-per-view component, or $50 million if there was no pay-per-view element. If Pacquiao was unavailable, Mayweather was allegedly entitled to fight another suitable opponent for $20 million plus 20% of pay-per-view revenue, or a $25 million flat fee.

Those are enormous numbers, even by Floyd Mayweather standards. They also explain why CSI was so aggressive about stopping the Zambidis fight. CSI claims it had not merely paid for one event. It claims it had locked up Floyd's next major fight pipeline.

The Netflix Complication

The Pacquiao rematch also created another wrinkle.

According to the CSI lawsuit, Mayweather allegedly entered into a separate deal with EverWonder for a Pacquiao fight on Netflix. That deal reportedly promised him $24.75 million, including a $2.75 million advance, plus a potential $3.75 million bonus.

CSI alleges that Mayweather accepted advances from both CSI and EverWonder in connection with the same proposed Pacquiao fight. Dan Rafael also reported that CSI claims Mayweather, through Frist Apex, took an additional $5.8 million advance from a third-party lender against the EverWonder-Mayweather contract.

Frist Apex is a notable name because it is also a defendant in Floyd's own $175 million lawsuit. In that lawsuit, Mayweather claims Frist Apex and others helped divert money and assets away from him. In the CSI lawsuit, however, Frist Apex is described as acting as Mayweather's representative in fight negotiations.

Putting It All Together

For Floyd, this would have been a very nice check at a very useful time.

Court filings say he had already been paid $3 million, plus travel expenses, and that additional deals could have pushed his total Zambidis payday to at least $10 million. Given the lawsuits, liens, unpaid-bill allegations, tax issues, and felony charges swirling around him, it is hard to imagine that losing access to roughly $7 million in additional near-term upside does not sting.

And this was not some far-off theoretical payday. This was a fight scheduled for Saturday. The money could have been in his hands almost immediately.

Floyd may still have much larger checks on the horizon, including a possible $14 million Tyson exhibition and a Pacquiao rematch that could pay $50 million or $35 million plus pay-per-view upside. But those fights are now tangled in litigation, too.

For someone who appears to need liquidity, a potential eight-figure exhibition payday disappearing at the last minute is brutal. Floyd Mayweather can still command enormous money to fight. The problem, increasingly, is getting from the signed deal to the actual cash.