Floyd Mayweather Jr is back in a fight, only this time the opponent is not another boxer but a former broadcast partner he once helped turn into a pay-per-view powerhouse. The retired champion has launched a $340 million legal broadside at Showtime, accusing the network and key executives of hiding a fortune in fight revenue that he says should have landed in his own accounts. If his allegations hold up, the case could reshape how boxing’s biggest stars trust the people who handle their money.
At the heart of the lawsuit is a simple claim with massive stakes: Mayweather says hundreds of millions tied to his blockbuster events vanished into a maze of side deals, shell companies, and undisclosed payments. For a fighter who built his brand on being “Money,” the idea that $340 million might be missing is not just a financial story, it is a direct hit on the image of total control he has cultivated for years.
The $340 Million Shockwave
According to the complaint, Floyd Mayweather Jr is seeking $340 million in damages from Showtime and related entities, arguing that at least $340 m in earnings from his biggest nights never reached him. He claims that Showtime Sports and former Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoz helped structure arrangements that left $340 million “unaccounted for,” including revenue from pay-per-view sales, international rights, and sponsorships tied to his mega events. One filing describes the missing money as the product of a long running “financial fraud” that allegedly siphoned cash away from the fighter and into other hands linked to his business circle, including accounts he did not control.
The lawsuit, filed in California, paints a picture of a fighter who thought he was cashing in fully on his star power, only to later discover that the real pot of gold was sitting behind the curtain. Reports on the case say Floyd Mayweather Jr believes Showtime and its sports arm were central to deals that routed his earnings into outside vehicles, with one account noting that Showtime Sports and Stephen Espinoz are specifically named as defendants in the $340 million claim. Another breakdown of the complaint notes that Mayweather, who retired from professional Boxing in 2017, now alleges he was effectively cut out of money he generated while networks, promoters, and sponsors quietly carved up the rest.
How Showtime Ended Up in the Crosshairs
To understand why Showtime is at the center of this storm, it helps to remember just how closely the network and Mayweather were tied during his prime. Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr signed a landmark multi fight deal with Showtime Networks Inc that turned his late career run into a string of record setting pay-per-view events, including showdowns with Canelo Álvarez and Conor McGregor. In the new lawsuit, Mayweather says that relationship masked a deeper problem, alleging that Showtime and Espinoza worked in tandem with his longtime adviser Haymon to divert his earnings into outside accounts, even as the fighter believed he was being paid in full.
One detailed legal summary notes that By Tom Lotshaw, writing about the case, described how the complaint accuses Showtime Networks Inc of breaching its duties under a management agreement that involved Haymon, even though Haymon himself is not named as a defendant. Another report explains that in a strange twist, Haymon is referenced repeatedly in the narrative of alleged fraud, yet the suit focuses its legal firepower on the network and its executives instead. That choice signals a strategy: Mayweather is targeting the deep pocketed broadcaster he says “played a critical role” in facilitating the scheme, while leaving his former adviser’s name in the story but not on the caption.
Mayweather’s Version: “Robbed and Cheated”
Mayweather’s public stance is blunt. The 50 0 fighter, who retired undefeated at 50 0, has said he feels “robbed and cheated” and claims he is “missing hundreds of millions of dollars” from the peak years of his career. In his telling, the same people and companies that helped him become a global attraction also quietly structured deals that shaved off slices of his earnings before he ever saw them. One account of his comments notes that Floyd Mayweather has framed the lawsuit as a fight not just for himself but as a warning about how networks, promoters, and sponsors can operate when a star trusts the wrong people.
Legal filings back up that emotional pitch with specific accusations. In the lawsuit, Mayweather says Showtime and Espinoza worked in tandem to divert the boxer’s earnings into accounts controlled by others, including entities linked to Haymon, rather than paying him directly. Another breakdown of the complaint says Mayweather alleges that the shuttered network owned by Paramount still owes him approximately $20 million in more straightforward unpaid fees on top of the larger $340 M claim tied to alleged fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and deliberate concealment of financial record. Put simply, Mayweather is arguing that the network he helped enrich did not just underpay him, it actively hid the true numbers.
Showtime, Paramount and Espinoza Push Back
Showtime and its corporate parent are not taking those accusations quietly. A spokesperson for Paramount, which owned Showtime before the network was shuttered, has already dismissed Mayweather’s allegations, saying that “These baseless claims lack legal or factual merit” and promising to respond accordingly through the court process. Another account of the response stresses that Paramount and Showtime have framed the lawsuit as an attempt to rewrite history around deals that were negotiated and paid out years ago, insisting that the fighter received what he was owed under the contracts he signed.
Mayweather’s legal team, for its part, has doubled down on the idea that Paramount owned Showtime and Espinoza played “a critical role” in facilitating the alleged fraud. One detailed report notes that Mayweather’s lawyers argue Showtime and Espinoza were uniquely positioned to know exactly how much money his fights generated, from domestic pay-per-view to international licensing, and therefore had a duty to ensure the fighter was paid accordingly. Another breakdown of the case points out that In the lawsuit, Mayweather accuses the network of misappropriating funds and breaching fiduciary duties, while a separate summary notes that In the complaint, Mayweather also claims Showtime and Espinoza helped structure side deals that left him in the dark about the true scale of his own success.
The Fights, the Money and the Missing Millions
Behind the legal language is a simple reality: Mayweather’s biggest nights were some of the richest events in sports history, and that is where he says the money went missing. One account notes that Floyd Mayweather Jr has filed a $340 m lawsuit against Showtime Sports and former Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoz over earnings from fights that generated staggering pay-per-view numbers. Another report highlights that Floyd Mayweather Jr sues Showtime for $340 million over “financial fraud” and fight earnings, pointing specifically to the McGregor spectacle and other late career blockbusters as key revenue sources that should have pushed his personal haul even higher.
Several breakdowns of the complaint say Mayweather believes at least $340 m in revenue tied to those events was misappropriated, with one legal summary explaining that Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr alleges Showtime Networks Inc helped route money into outside entities rather than paying him directly. Another detailed account notes that Floyd Mayweather Jr, who has publicly said he is missing “hundreds of millions of dollars,” claims that some of the diverted funds could have gone toward investments, charitable efforts, or generational wealth for his family if they had reached him. For a fighter who has long bragged about earning more than $1 billion in career fight purses, the idea that $340 could still be on the table is staggering.
More from Vinyl and Velvet:
Leave a Reply