Floyd Mayweather sues Showtime for $340 million over stolen career earnings

Floyd Mayweather Jr., the 50-0 retired boxing champion who generated more than $1.2 billion in career earnings across fights with Manny Pacquiao, Conor McGregor and Canelo Alvarez, has filed a $340 million lawsuit against Showtime Networks, claiming the Paramount-owned cable network participated in a years-long scheme to divert a significant portion of his earnings to his former manager without his knowledge.

The 25-page complaint, filed February 4 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, names Showtime Networks and former Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza as defendants. Mayweather's longtime manager Al Haymon is not named as a defendant.

The suit claims Showtime and Espinoza worked in tandem to route Mayweather's fight earnings into accounts controlled by Haymon rather than paying him directly, depriving him of at least $340 million from a career that should have produced the largest personal payouts in the history of the sport. The complaint describes the alleged scheme as "a complex web of hidden accounts, unauthorized transactions, and deliberate concealment of financial records."

Mayweather claims that after he switched management and his new team requested access to Showtime's financial records, they were told the critical documents for his biggest fights were either "lost in a flood" or otherwise inaccessible.

His attorney Bobby Samini said in a statement: "Floyd is one of boxing's biggest pay-per-view draws. He generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for Showtime."

Espinoza responded with surprise and denial. "I'm definitely disappointed and surprised, and I haven't spoken to Floyd about it," he said in a podcast interview shortly after the lawsuit was filed. "I'm proud of my reputation. It's one of integrity... and I've never done anything to hurt a fighter and short change a fighter."

Paramount, Showtime's parent company, was blunt in its rejection. "These baseless claims lack legal or factual merit," a spokesperson said. "We strongly reject them and will respond accordingly through the court process."

A representative for Haymon Boxing declined to comment.

The lawsuit has since entered its pretrial phase with a jury trial scheduled for later this year. A California court has already denied Showtime's motion for summary judgment, meaning a judge found sufficient evidence for a jury to consider Mayweather's claims on the merits. Both legal teams are now preparing for trial.

The claims focus specifically on Mayweather's Showtime-era fights, with particular attention to the final seven bouts of his career. The Pacquiao fight in 2015, which generated approximately $600 million in pay-per-view revenue and remains the highest-grossing boxing event in history, is a central point of the complaint. The McGregor fight in 2017, which generated in excess of $550 million, is also cited.

Mayweather is seeking the $340 million in compensatory damages plus punitive damages. The case is currently the largest civil lawsuit in American boxing history by claimed amount.