Floyd Mayweather Sued for £3.7m Over Mike Tyson and Manny Pacquiao Bouts
Exhibitions or ‘Ghost Fights’? Floyd Mayweather Sued for £3.7m Over Mike Tyson and Manny Pacquiao Bouts
NEW YORK — The legal floodgates have opened completely on boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr., with a prominent sports promotion firm slapping the undefeated icon with a multi-million-pound federal lawsuit over a series of collapsed, highly lucrative "ghost fights" involving Mike Tyson and Manny Pacquiao.
The complaint, filed on Thursday 18th June, in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York by CSI Sports Events, accuses Mayweather of rampant breach of contract. The company alleges that the 49-year-old fighter greedily scooped up huge financial advances for exclusive, high-profile blockbuster events before secretly arranging alternative multi-million-pound deals behind their backs.
In total, CSI is seeking $4.65 million (approximately £3.7 million) in immediate cash repayments. Crucially, the firm is also demanding a permanent judicial injunction to completely block Mayweather's upcoming exhibition bout against Greek kickboxer Mike Zambidis in Athens next weekend.
The catastrophic civil filing lands just 48 hours after Mayweather took to Instagram to mock unrelated Nevada felony charges regarding a separate bad cheque scandal, aggressively taunting the media to "keep the press coming".
A Multitude of Secret Overlapping Deals
According to the extensive court documents, CSI contracted with Mayweather’s corporate management vehicle, Frist Apex Ventures, across late 2025 to secure global promotional monopolies on two massive heritage boxing spectacles.
The first was a highly anticipated, lucrative exhibition showdown against former undisputed heavyweight king Mike Tyson, scheduled for spring 2026, for which Mayweather was contractually guaranteed $14 million (£11 million). The second was a heavily requested professional rematch against his historic rival Manny Pacquiao, a deal that promised Mayweather $35 million plus a 20% share of Pay-Per-View revenues, or a flat $50 million (£39.5 million) buyout if the event remained off PPV.
CSI asserts it paid Mayweather an upfront sum of $4.5 million in advances across both ventures. However, the promotional firm claims it subsequently discovered that Mayweather was operating on entirely dual tracks, pocketing their cash while simultaneously signing secret, competing production agreements.
Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that in December 2025, Mayweather signed a separate contract with production house EverWonder to route the exact same Pacquiao rematch to global streaming titan Netflix, scheduled to broadcast live from The Sphere in Las Vegas this coming September. While CSI and EverWonder initially attempted to negotiate a structural settlement to salvage the event, the deal collapsed when Mayweather's management failed to return the necessary funds.
The Greece Conflict and Cash Drop
The immediate flashpoint threatening to derail Mayweather's imminent summer plans involves his upcoming trip to Europe.
The lawsuit reveals that in February 2026, CSI handed Mayweather an additional $150,000 in physical cash strictly to complete his required pre-fight medical examinations for the proposed Mike Tyson bout. Iron-clad clauses in that contract dictated that Mayweather could only take an interim, alternative tune-up fight if Tyson was physically unavailable to compete before late November.
The very next day after receiving the cash, Mayweather publicly blindsided promoters by announcing his unauthorized 27th June exhibition against Mike Zambidis in Greece. While Iron Mike Tyson did experience a legitimate hand injury that pushed back a tentative May deadline, CSI argues that Mayweather’s decision to headline the Athens event under a completely foreign promotional banner represents an absolute, hostile breach of their exclusive window.
The Lucrative Figures Behind the Collapsed Mayweather Slate
| Proposed Opponent / Event | Contracted Promoter | Promised Mayweather Purse | Paid Upfront Cash Advance | Current Legal Status |
| Mike Tyson (Exhibition) | CSI Sports Events | $14,000,000 | $2,000,000 | Postponed via injury; breached by interim Greek bout |
| Manny Pacquiao (Rematch) | CSI Sports Events | $35,000,000 (Plus 20% PPV) | $2,500,000 | Violated via secret secondary streaming contracts |
| Manny Pacquiao (Rematch) | EverWonder / Netflix | $24,750,000 (Plus bonuses) | Unverified | Currently in operational limbo at The Sphere |
| Mike Zambidis (Athens) | Independent | Unconfirmed | Unconfirmed | CSI actively seeking permanent court injunction to block |
"We Were Prepared to Go Forward"
Speaking to reporters on Thursday evening, CSI’s high-profile lead attorney, Judd Burstein, expressed absolute exasperation regarding the boxer's business conduct, indicating that the promotional house had bent over backwards to accommodate the athlete before being forced into court.
"We were prepared to go forward," Burstein stated flatly. "Tyson would go first and CSI would allow. Pacquiao was going to go forward in the autumn in the Sphere televised by Netflix, with CSI getting full billing rights."
Instead, Burstein notes, Mayweather attempted to unilaterally terminate his relationship with CSI altogether on 9 June, keeping the millions in advanced deposits.
The cascading civil litigation places a massive question mark over the operational viability of Mayweather's multi-million-pound exhibition schedule, which the retired 50-0 fighter has heavily relied upon to maintain his opulent lifestyle. With New York judges currently reviewing the injunction request, the man who spent his entire career projecting absolute financial invincibility under the "Money" moniker faces the distinct, humbling possibility of being legally barred from stepping foot inside a boxing ring next week.
