Floyd Mayweather 'breaches contract' despite already being paid for Manny Pacquaio fight
Floyd Mayweather's fight with Manny Pacquiao is still on despite reports he breached his contract for the bout.
Nine years after his last professional bout with former UFC champion Conor McGregor, Mayweather is set to put his unbeaten record on the line once again this year.
Since the McGregor fight the 49-year-old has taken part in a number of exhibition bouts that don't impact his record, fighting influencers like Deji, the younger brother of KSI, and Logan Paul.
But on September 19, Mayweather will risk it all when he steps into the ring to face perhaps his biggest rival, Manny Pacquiao.
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However, that's not what the man himself is reported to have told fans during a meet and greet at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, where he claimed the bout was another exhibition.
Mayweather told Vegas Sports Today: "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."
In doing so, Jas Mathur, CEO of MannyPacquiao Promotions and a producer for the fight, has claimed that Mayweather breached his contract for the event, reaffirming that the boxing legend has signed for a professional bout.
"As of right now, the fight is still on. There is no termination of any sort, and he has signed for a professional fight," Mathur told ESPN.
"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."
Mathur claimed that he has been speaking to Mayweather's team as they have continued to insist on the fight being changed from a sanctioned professional bout to an exhibition.
He also added that Mayweather's rumoured exhibition fight with Greek kickboxer Mike Zambidis set for June is also in direct breach of his agreement with Pacquiao.
Not only this, but he has claimed that Mayweather has already been paid a significant amount for the Pacquiao fight, having taken out an advance on his fight purse.
"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 said.
"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.
"If he's scared of Manny and he does not want to put his record on the line in a professional boxing match, not only should he have never executed any of these agreements, but he should just come out right and say it because Manny ain't scared."
Topics: Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Boxing
Ben McCrum