Mayweather is staring down a new batch of legal issues.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. is one of the best boxers in the history of the sport. Having retired undefeated in 50 professional fights, he is often considered the greatest fighter of the 21st century.
The legendary American won world titles across five divisions and became the highest-earning pay-per-view star of all time, setting the precedent with his gargantuan 2015 affair with Manny Pacquiao.
When it comes to pugilism, Mayweather is just about as flawless as it gets. But outside of the ring, his personal life has been filled with many publicised issues.
Specifically, he has been involved in a number of run-ins with the law and a myriad of financial problems. Just last month, in fact, he launched legal action against his former adviser for allegedly pilfering around $175 million from him.
However, Mayweather now finds himself on the opposite end of a monetary dispute, as he has now been hit with two felony charges.
Nevada court records state that on New Year’s Eve of 2024, Mayweather wrote a check of $200,000 for a Audemars Piguet watch to Gold and Beyond, a high-end resale boutique in Las Vegas.
The complaint alleges that at the time of writing the check, the former pound-for-pound star “had insufficient money, property, or credit” in his account to pay for the watch in full.
The charge also claims that Mayweather wrote the check “in exchange for obtaining property or services” while “knowing that the check would not be paid when presented” and that he did this “knowingly, feloniously, and without lawful authority.”
The official charges Mayweather is facing are “theft, value $100,000 or greater” and “draw or pass check with intent to defraud, value $1,200 or greater.”
If he is found guilty of the fraud charge, Nevada law states that Mayweather could end up serving one-to-four years in prison and paying a $5,000 fine, plus restitution costs.
The charge of felony theft, on the other hand, could result in a prison term of up to 20 years and fines of up to $15,000.
Mayweather did not show up for a Clark County court hearing this Monday and was instead represented by his counsel. Marc Cook, an attorney for Gold and Beyond representatives Cook & Kelesis, stated earlier today that his client first filed the complaint with the Clark County District Attorney’s Office in February.
“The reason for the delay is that my guy trusted Mayweather and was trying to give him every opportunity to make good on that,” Cook told ESPN, “and it got to the point where he wasn’t getting responses and wasn’t getting money for a watch that Mayweather had for well over a year.”
Mayweather currently has an exhibition set in just over a week’s time against Greek kickboxer and MMA fighter Mike Zambidis, and another exhibition bout against Mike Tyson is expected to take place later this year.
Additionally, Mayweather is scheduled to face Manny Pacquiao in a professional rematch this September. However, this latest round of fiscal trouble for the man known as “Money” in the latter stage of his boxing career certainly throws a spanner in the works.
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