Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, anecdotally accused of duping the public inside the ring Saturday night, less than three days later found themselves facing real-life lawsuits for duping the public.
Josie Harris, mother of three of Mayweather’s four children, sued the boxer for making malicious claims about her alleged drug use, according to TMZ, and seeks more than $20 million in damages.
Meantime, Pacquiao faces rather a stranger lawsuit: Two Nevada residents have opened a class-action suit against him for fighting injured in his unanimous decision loss to Mayweather.
Harris sued Mayweather three days after he took him a $100 million check for defeating Manny Pacquiao, claiming the boxer made malicious claims about her alleged drug use in a March interview with Katie Couric of Yahoo!, TMZ reported.
In the interview, Mayweather said the following about a 2010 incident, involving Harris, for which he pleaded guilty and spent nine weeks in jail in 2012:
“Did I kick, stomp and beat someone? No, that didn’t happen. I look in your face and say, ‘No, that didn’t happen.’ Did I restrain a woman that was on drugs? Yes, I did. So if they say that’s domestic violence, then, you know what? I’m guilty of restraining a person.”
The Couric interview was not the first time Mayweather has claimed that he restrained an intoxiated Harris, but did not beat her, after entering her home without permission in the early morning hours of Sept. 9, 2010.
On Sept, 7, 2011 — more than three months before accepting a plea arrangement in which he pleaded guilty to one count of domestic violence and two counts of harassment, with four felony counts dismissed — Mayweather made that claim for the first time.
“There’s a difference,” Mayweather said before a fight against Victor Ortiz, “between restraining somebody and holding somebody, saying, ‘Relax, you’re under the influence. … ‘ “
Mayweather pleaded guilty on Dec. 21, 2011, but had his jail term delayed so he could follow through on a May 2012 fight with Miguel Cotto.
A few months later, when the Nevada State Athletic Commission brought in Mayweather for a licensing hearing on Feb. 1, 2012, he made a similar claim before the state regulatory authority in advance of the Cotto fight.
“Did I restrain her, while she was under the influence of alcohol and drugs in her system? Absolutely. But did I kick and beat her? No, I didn’t do that,” Mayweather told commission members, before assuring them he would report to jail on schedule, a few weeks after fighting Cotto.
Pacquiao faces a different type of lawsuit, from two fans duped by him entering the ring with a pre-existing injury, which seeks other claimants and at least $5 million in damages. It’s a reach, but if that lawsuit succeeds, it could set a far-reaching precedent.
Pacquiao, his promoter Top Rank Inc., and his adviser Michael Koncz were named as defendants in the lawsuit, which accuses them of duping the public by allowing the Filipino boxer to fight Mayweather with a major injury.
Top Rank president Bob Arum complained after the fight that the Nevada State Athletic Commission denied Pacquiao an injection which would have aided performance. Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer, said their team considered a postponement.
Pacquiao’s injury was not disclosed to the Nevada commission, the prevailing regulatory authority.
On his pre-fight medical questionnaire, signed by both Pacquiao and Koncz, the “No” box was checked for the following question: “Have you had any injury to your shoulders, elbows, or hands that needed evaluation or examination? If yes, explain.”
