Floyd Mayweather, who retired from professional boxing in 2017, is now locked in a legal battle with Showtime. A new report reveals that Mayweather, who holds an impressive 50-0 undefeated record, is suing the premium television network for $340 million. The retired boxer alleges in his lawsuit that they aided his former manager, Al Haymon, in cheating him out of millions of dollars.
Floyd Mayweather is suing Showtime
In court documents obtained by TMZ Sports, Floyd Mayweather reportedly stated he was seeking to recover “hundreds of millions of dollars in misappropriated funds and damages.” The 15-time major world championship winner claimed this stemmed from “a long-running and elaborate scheme of financial fraud.” He attributed the scheme to Al Haymon, his former decades-long manager and advisor.
Mayweather further alleged that Showtime and former Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza provided “substantial participation and aid” to Haymon in his scheme. Notably, Haymon is reportedly not listed as a defendant in the lawsuit, while Showtime and Espinoza are named.
The 48-year-old claimed that Haymon, Showtime, and Espinoza misappropriated a considerable portion of his career earnings — a staggering $340 million. He added that the money was “missing” and “unaccounted for.” Further, he alleged that Showtime owed him roughly $20 million from his and Andre Berto’s 2015 welterweight championship fight (via Deadline).
The lawsuit, highlighting several of Mayweather’s prominent fights, including his matches against Conor McGregor and Manny Pacquiao, alleges that Showtime and Espinoza directly transferred money owed to the boxer to accounts managed by Haymon.
The suit reveals that after Mayweather changed his management team, the new team requested Showtime to show their books. However, the former boxer alleged that Showtime claimed they either got “lost in a flood” or couldn’t be accessed.
Besides $340 million, Mayweather is seeking punitive damages. He is also suing Espinoza and Showtime for:
- Aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty
- Civil conspiracy to commit fraud
- Conversion
- Unjust enrichment
Neither Haymon, typically away from the spotlight, nor Espinoza and Showtime have reacted to the lawsuit. Meanwhile, Stephen Espinoza reportedly hasn’t seen the final copy of the lawsuit filed (via The Ring).
However, Showtime’s parent company, Paramount, has responded. Rejecting the suit, they said in a statement, as per Deadline, “These baseless claims lack legal or factual merit. We strongly reject them and will respond accordingly through the court process.”
Originally reported by Abdul Azim Naushad on Mandatory.
