Floyd Mayweather has filed a lawsuit in California accusing Showtime and former Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza of helping to facilitate the alleged misappropriation of $340 million from his career earnings. The 50-0 boxing legend claims his longtime adviser Al Haymon orchestrated an elaborate financial fraud scheme with the aid of the network and its executive, though Haymon himself is not named as a defendant in the suit.
Boxing Legend Floyd Mayweather Accuses Showtime of $340 Million Financial Fraud Scheme
The lawsuit, filed this week and obtained by TMZ Sports, alleges that despite earning over $1 billion across his 21-year career, Mayweather never received hundreds of millions of dollars that were owed to him. According to the complaint, Showtime and Espinoza allegedly funneled payments meant for Mayweather directly into accounts controlled by Haymon during several of the boxer’s marquee fights, including his 2015 bout against Manny Pacquiao and his 2017 crossover fight with Conor McGregor.
Mayweather‘s legal team claims the fraud continued for over a decade while the fighter worked with Haymon from 2006 onwards. The partnership had been considered hugely successful, with Haymon helping Mayweather secure a six-fight deal with Showtime in 2013 that was worth over $200 million and described at the time as the richest individual athlete contract in sports history.
The lawsuit gained momentum after Mayweather switched management teams in 2024, bringing in former Golden Boy Promotions president Richard Schaefer to replace his longtime business partner Leonard Ellerbe as CEO of Mayweather Promotions. When Schaefer’s team requested financial records and accounting documents related to the Pacquiao and McGregor fights from Showtime, they were allegedly told the materials were either lost in a flood, stored off-site, or otherwise inaccessible.
These two fights represent the biggest pay-per-view events in combat sports history. The Mayweather-Pacquiao bout generated 4.6 million domestic pay-per-view buys and over $600 million in total revenue, while the McGregor fight produced 4.3 million buys and more than $600 million. Under Mayweather’s deal with Showtime, the boxer received 50 percent of all pay-per-view revenue in addition to his guaranteed purse for each fight.
Mayweather is seeking damages for aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty, civil conspiracy to commit fraud, conversion, and unjust enrichment. Beyond the $340 million in allegedly missing funds, the complaint also demands punitive damages. The suit notes that Mayweather is still owed approximately $20 million from his final Showtime fight against Andre Berto in 2015.
Bobby Samini, the Costa Mesa attorney representing Mayweather through his firm Samini Block, issued a statement expressing confidence in the case. “Floyd is one of boxing’s biggest pay-per-view draws. He generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for Showtime,” Samini said. “Mr. Mayweather now takes this fight to the courtroom to recover what he rightfully earned. Retiring undefeated at 50-0, Mr. Mayweather will go the distance in the courtroom just as he has in the ring.”
Showtime Sports, which had been a fixture in boxing since 1986, was shut down by parent company Paramount Global at the end of 2023. Espinoza, who led Showtime Sports from 2011 until its closure, was instrumental in signing Mayweather to the network and played a key role in arranging the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight. Neither Showtime nor Espinoza has publicly responded to the allegations.