Mayweather in breach of Pacquiao rematch contract — report
MANILA, Philippines — It seems Floyd Mayweather Jr. is in legal trouble as far as his scheduled rematch with Manny Pacquiao is concerned.
ESPN’s Andreas Hale reported that Jas Mathur, CEO of Manny Pacquiao Promotions, insisted the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight announced by streaming powerhouse Netflix last month will be a professional bout.
This is contrary to Mayweather’s recent claims that the fight — set September 19 at The Sphere in Las Vegas — will only be an exhibition.
And in doing so, Mathur said the American boxing star is “in breach of his contract”.
"As of right now, the fight is still on. There is no termination of any sort, and he (Mayweather) has signed for a professional fight," Mathur told Hale.
“Floyd Mayweather is officially in breach of his contract. He's been in a breach since the day he went out and said what he said on Saturday and he's officially in a breach as of yesterday,” he added.
Mayweather made news over the weekend when he told media members in Las Vegas that details of his second tango with Pacquiao aren’t set in stone, and that it will only be an exhibition fight rather than an official one.
"We don't know the location of the fight. The Sphere is one of the places that they talked about. So we don't know if it's a hundred percent going to be there. And this is not actually a fight. It's an exhibition,” he said in a report by Vegas Sports Today.
Mayweather outpointed Pacquiao in their big-money showdown in 2015, which ended up as the richest fight in boxing history. Pacquiao had since been yearning for a second shot at the undefeated American.
The Filipino icon has also been vocal about his desire to face Mayweather in the pro ranks and not in a showcase bout, meaning the latter has to put his perfect 50-0 record on the line.
‘Mayweather received money in advance’
It was reported that Mayweather will figure in an interim bout — or two, if the reported Mike Tyson gig also pushes through — before his rematch with Pacquiao.
He recently announced he will take on Greek kickboxer Mike Zambidis in June.
Such a plan, Mathur told Hale, also constitutes a breach of Mayweather’s contract with Pacquiao.
"Floyd Mayweather signed not one, not two, but three different agreements on three different dates with two different parties that ultimately got intertwined in the month of January," Mathur continued.
Compounding Mayweather’s legal woes would be the fact that he already received money for the Pacquiao rematch, according to Mathur.
"And this is all related to his return to professional boxing. First one was on October 24th. The second one was on November 6th. Third one was on December 14th. He received money for all three agreements when he signed them. Not only that, but he's also taken out an advance on his purse for his fight against Pacquiao."
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