The Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao fight may be over, but various legal fights related to he historic bout are just about to get started.
According to CNN, the two fighters may be headed from the ring to court, albeit for two very different issues, These cases may take away from their big payday.
Fans are upset for many reasons: the fight was one-sided and rather boring, Pacquiao had an injured shoulder and kept it a secret, and some people in the United States paid $100 to watch it while others paid absolutely nothing.
People are also angry because not much happened in the ring, but both fighters are got a serious amount of money.
Some media broke it down to earnings by the second, but others broke it down this way; “Pacquiao took in about $1.4 million per punch landed.”
After the bout, Mayweather showed two ESPN announcers an initial payment check — and there will be another after the pay-per-view sales are figured out — that had a one and eight zeroes.
Two men who live in Las Vegas felt cheated, and they think there are thousands of others who feel the same way.
So, Stephane Vanel and Kami Rahbaran filed a class-action suit on Tuesday, May 5, 2015 against Pacquaio and his promoter for at least $5 million. The plaintiffs say in the court filing that the legal action is brought on behalf of people who bought a ticket for the bout, purchased it on pay-per-view or made bets on the match.
Pacquaio, his adviser and Top Rank Boxing should have let everyone know he had a shoulder injury, they claim in the suit.
A Top Rank lawyer told ESPN the suit is frivolous.
“The allegations in this lawsuit are demonstrably false,” Daniel Petrocelli told the sports network.
The Pacquiao team said on Monday, May 4, 2015 that the fighter was injured during training. His shoulder was getting better, but still needed treatment.
Nevada boxing officials denied them the chance to give Pacquiao a shot on the night of the fight. That’s because on a medical questionnaire someone from Pacquiao’s camp checked “No” when asked if the fighter had a shoulder injury that required evaluation.
The lawsuit alleges fraudulent concealment, consumer fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud, because the injury was not revealed until after the fight.
There is a second similar lawsuit, this one filed on Tuesday, May 5, 2015 in California by two people who bought the pay-per-view. Heather McDonald and Payman Shanin gave the same reason for their legal action and also seek $5 million for people like them.
“Having had knowledge of defendant Pacquiao’s injury and its severity prior to the bout, plaintiffs would not have purchased the bout pay-per-view or would have paid less for it,” the suit says.
Mayweather was also sued on Tuesday, MAy 5, 2015. The suit was brought by the mother of three of his children, who alleges he lied about her during one of his interviews in the buildup to Saturday’s match with Pacquiao. Mayweather told journalist Katie Couric that Josie Harris was on drugs during an incident that led to him spending two months in jail for domestic violence.
The last word is that the Pacquaio camp is thinking of a re-match, which may not come soon as the Filipino is expected to be out of action for at least eight months after surgery on his shoulder.
