'Money' Floyd Mayweather (49) has once again become the center of controversy over money. The five-division world champion has filed a lawsuit worth hundreds of billions of won.
The U.K. Sports Bible reported, "Mayweather has filed a shocking lawsuit accusing his former close associates of fraud for a staggering $175 million (about 265.8 billion won). This is really crazy."
Mayweather is the 'undefeated legend' boxer who is 50-0 in his professional career. But he has been engulfed in astronomical financial troubles. According to media reports, Mayweather sued his former manager Jonah Rechnitz, Ayal Priest, the head of real estate investment company Priest Apex Ventures, and attorney Alexander Seligson, who handled refinancing of his properties, alleging they deceived him for years.
Mayweather's attorney Leo Jacobs said in an official statement, "We demand a thorough forensic accounting investigation into the allegations in this complaint, namely the circumstances in which settlement payments, refinancing funds and real estate sale proceeds were diverted to an account managed by Jonah Rechnitz through Priest Apex Ventures," adding, "We hope this will enable our client to recover all amounts he rightfully should receive."
The indictment includes multiple allegations. Sports Bible reported, "One involves $7.5 million (about 1.14 billion won) wired to Priest Apex on July 1, 2024, under the pretext of a 12-month investment. But the funds were not actually invested and the principal was not returned, the suit alleges."
The outlet added, "It also alleges that funds belonging to Mayweather were allocated to Priest Apex without authorization at Rechnitz's direction. This included a $15 million (about 2.28 billion won) settlement with a real estate company. It also claims that the $1 million (about 150 million won) deposit he agreed to for a 2025 New York property purchase was instead paid by Rechnitz to a New York jeweler, and the transaction ultimately did not materialize."
It does not end there. The suit also alleges that of the $8.2 million (about 1.24 billion won) refinancing funds for Mayweather-owned Las Vegas property, $2.1 million (about 320 million won) was sent to Priest Apex "at Rechnitz's direction, without Mayweather's approval."
For that reason, Mayweather had been preparing the lawsuit since February. At that time, Canada-based TMZ reported that he planned "to seek hundreds of millions of dollars in embezzled funds and damages from a long-planned financial fraud." And, as he had foreshadowed, he launched full-scale legal action.
Mayweather, whose image as boxing's richest figure has been tarnished amid continued controversies since his retirement, is said to have earned $1 billion (about 1.519 trillion won) during his glittering career.
But this is not the first time he has been embroiled in financial lawsuits. Due to unpaid taxes in 2018 and 2023, Mayweather faced seizure actions from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of about $7.3 million (about 1.11 billion won) in March, and he is also being sued for failing to pay $105,000 (about 16 million won) in private jet service fees.
Moreover, earlier this year Mayweather was sued for unpaid rent of $338,000 (about 51.3 million won) for the duplex at Baccarat Hotel and Residences in Manhattan. Despite flaunting lavish wealth, speculation that he is actually suffering cash flow problems has gained traction, as he has produced promotional images using artificial intelligence (AI)–generated images and has sold off private jets and mansions in succession.
His pursuit of a rematch with another boxing legend, Manny Pacquiao, is also being interpreted in the same context. Mayweather recently reversed his retirement for the fourth time and is scheduled to face Filipino legend Pacquiao in September. He defeated Pacquiao by unanimous decision in the 2015 bout billed as the 'fight of the century'.<
[Photo] ⓒGettyimages (unauthorized reproduction and redistribution prohibited), Daily Mail, Mayweather social media.
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