CSI Entertainment seeks repayment of advances and asks a New York court to block Mayweather’s exhibition fight in Greece
Floyd Mayweather is facing a lawsuit seeking $4.65 million in repayments and an injunction against his June 27 exhibition fight in Greece. CSI Entertainment alleges it paid millions in advances for exclusive rights to proposed events involving Mike Tyson and Manny Pacquiao that never materialized.
TMZ Sports reported Thursday that CSI Entertainment filed the lawsuit in New York, alleging it paid millions of dollars for exclusive rights to exhibition bouts involving Mike Tyson and Manny Pacquiao.
CSI claims it paid $4.5 million in advances to Mayweather’s management company, Frist Apex Ventures, for the proposed events. The company alleges the agreements gave it exclusive rights to promote the fights and says Mayweather personally approved the deals.
Court filings allege that CSI later discovered plans for Mayweather to move forward with other promotional partners for separate events involving Mike Zambidis and Pacquiao despite the company’s claimed exclusive rights. The lawsuit seeks an injunction that would prevent Mayweather from participating in his June 27 exhibition against Zambidis in Athens, Greece, while the dispute is being litigated.
According to the complaint, Mayweather was set to earn $14 million for the proposed Tyson exhibition, with $2 million already paid in advance. CSI also claims Mayweather was guaranteed $35 million plus 20 percent of pay-per-view revenue for a Pacquiao rematch, or $50 million if the fight took place outside the pay-per-view model.
The lawsuit further alleges that Mayweather later entered into a separate agreement involving a Pacquiao fight that was expected to stream on Netflix. CSI claims that the arrangement included an additional advance payment and violated the exclusivity provisions of its contract.
The lawsuit comes while Mayweather is pursuing separate litigation against Frist Apex Ventures and his former manager. In that case, Mayweather is seeking $175 million in damages and alleges he was defrauded by individuals involved in his business affairs.
Neither Mayweather nor representatives of his management company had publicly responded to the allegations at the time of publication.