Floyd Mayweather Jr. sued over $1.4M jewelry debt in Vegas
Former American boxer Floyd Mayweather attends a Men’s quarterfinal basketball match between USA and Argentina at the Carioca Arena 1 in Rio de Janeiro on August 17, 2016 during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. / AFP PHOTO / Andrej ISAKOVIC
LAS VEGAS — Retired boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. is accused of stiffing a Las Vegas jewelry company for $1.4 million of the cost of a diamond-encrusted necklace he bought the weekend after his last fight, according to a lawsuit filed in Nevada state court.
It wasn’t immediately clear Tuesday if Mayweather or his legal representatives had been served with the civil lawsuit, filed Sept. 23 in Clark County District Court in Las Vegas.
Mayweather Promotions chief executive Leonard Ellerbe and Mark Tratos, an attorney in Las Vegas who represents Mayweather in civil cases, didn’t immediately respond to messages.
The Jewelers Inc. said in court filings that Mayweather paid $1 million when he bought the $3 million necklace consisting of 72 round-cut diamonds in September 2015, and that he made six subsequent $100,000 payments.
Each diamond was about 3 carats, according to the lawsuit.
It alleges that Mayweather hasn’t made a payment since May, and accuses him of breach of agreement and unjust enrichment.
Ellerbe told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Mayweather had no comment about the lawsuit.
Mayweather, now 39, was listed by Forbes as the world’s highest-paid athlete in 2015, making about $300 million. He also topped the Forbes list in 2012, at $85 million, and 2014, at $105 million.
Estimates were that Mayweather earned a stunning $220 million for his unanimous decision over longtime nemesis Manny Pacquiao from the Philippines in May 2015. He was reported to have taken home another $32 million when he defeated Andre Berto on Sept. 12, 2015, at the MGM Grand arena.
Mayweather finished his career undefeated, at 49-0 with 26 knockouts.
The lawsuit was the second in 11 years filed against Mayweather over jewelry. Records show that a 2005 civil action filed by another jeweler alleging that he failed to pay $124,000 for more than 20 pieces of jewelry was settled in 2006. The terms were not disclosed.
A lawyer who represented the jewelry store in that case has retired and didn’t immediately respond to a message.
