Floyd Mayweather could be on the hook for tens of millions of dollars if he withdraws from the planned September 19 rematch with Manny Pacquiao at Sphere, according to Jas Mathur, CEO of Manny Pacquiao Promotions.
Mathur told the Review-Journal on Thursday that both fighters signed multiple contracts for what is intended to be a sanctioned professional boxing match, not an exhibition. If Mayweather fails to follow through, he could face breach-of-contract damages in the eight- to nine-figure range.
“There’s a massive penalty,” Mathur said. “There’s gonna be damages and those damages they’re quite substantial. It’s eight-, nine-figure damages.”
Mayweather cast doubt on the fight last week at an autograph signing in Las Vegas, saying the Sphere date was not certain and that the bout would be an exhibition. His comments contradicted the official announcement by Netflix, which will stream the event, and promotional posts from Sphere’s social media accounts.
“We don’t know exactly where the fight is going to be at,” Mayweather said. “The Sphere is one of the places that they talked about. So, we don’t know if it’s 100 percent going to be there. And this is not actually a fight, it’s an exhibition.”
Pacquiao (62-8-3, 39 KOs) has insisted he will only fight Mayweather in a real bout, not an exhibition. In an Instagram video, Pacquiao said, “Maybe he think(s) I’m going to take him lightly. But the contract we signed is a real fight.”
Mathur revealed that Mayweather has already borrowed against his projected payout for the fight. “Now, he has taken out a loan against the purse,” Mathur said. “So outside of the deposit that he got on upon signing each contract, because he’s there was three different sets of contracts with two parties that ultimately got merged up together. He did get deposits and then he also took a loan against the purse.”
Both camps visited Sphere last month and signed three contracts for a professional match, Mathur said. Mayweather has retained legal counsel and faced a Thursday deadline to move the process forward. If he fails to cure the breach, he would have 14 days to do so, but Mathur expects attorneys to request more time to review documents.
Sphere events require months of planning to utilize the venue’s massive LED screens. Mathur said a resolution is needed within 45 days to prepare for the Mexican Independence Day weekend event. Mayweather has never pulled out of a fight in his 50-bout professional career, and Mathur speculated that Mayweather’s reluctance stems from not wanting to risk his perfect record.
“It’s really like Floyd saying the car is black, but really the car is white,” Mathur said. “He’s (Mayweather) insisting it’s black, but really the car is white. And there’s no in between. There’s no shades of gray anywhere. This is a black-and-white situation. It is 100 percent a pro fight.”
Pacquiao’s scheduled exhibition against Ruslan Provodnikov on April 18 at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center has been postponed, with a new target date of June 6, a source told the Review-Journal.
