Floyd Mayweather Fighting To Pay Off Debt?

On Saturday night Floyd Mayweather Jr. will make his return to the ring in Las Vegas, Nevada against Juan Manuel Marquez. The fight will be shown on PPV as always and Mayweather should be taking home a sizable chunk of change. Unfortunately, it won’t be as big as you might think as its being reported that the IRS has placed a lien against Mayweather’s purse. The IRS says Mayweather owes them back taxes, and there’s no way that they aren’t getting their cut out of this payday.

Mayweather had retired last year and will put his perfect 39-0 record on the line in the fight Saturday night. Linesmakers apparently don’t think it should be much of a problem for him to maintain his perfect record as he’s been made a heavy favorite in the bout. The timing of this though suggests that maybe the IRS problems might have forced his hand in returning to the ring.

Last year the IRS filed a lien for $6.1 million in back taxes against Mayweather, although he insists that he has no problem with the taxing agency.

“Same thing I always say — If I had a problem with the IRS, they would come take my house,” Mayweather said. “They would come take my cars. They haven’t taken anything from me.

“Everybody knows this. If the IRS has a problem, they’re going to take it from you. They’re going to go just like this — ‘I need that.’ They’re going to put a padlock on it and take it from you. There’s no negotiating, they’re going to take it from you. I have two houses out here. My other house is a $3 million, $4 million house, whatever number they want to say. So they could take it and get their money.”

He does have a point there, but the IRS seems to not mind when exactly it gets their money, but they do insist on getting it. I’m sure the IRS would rather just have the cash too when that is an option. If they seized any property then they would have to deal with the added expense and hassle of off loading the property. Mayweather should be grateful that they didn’t go after his homes, as with the housing market in its current state they would not be getting much value with a housing sale.

There is some discrepancy though with how exactly the matter is being handled. On Wednesday the commissioner of the Nevada Athletic Commission announced that an agreement had been made between Mayweather and the IRS to settle the debt.

Keith Kizer, the top official in Nevada’s boxing governing body, said he understands that there “has been a levy against the purse and there is an agreement between Floyd Mayweather and the IRS, in an amount of approximately $5 million.”

Kizer added that the IRS has not formally attached Mayweather’s purse and he didn’t know “exactly how it will be handled.”

However, the Chief Financial Officer of Golden Boy Promotions, which is handling the fight, disputes this assertion.

Raul Gutierrez, CFO of Golden Boy Promotions, said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles that he had received notification from the IRS that part of one purse must be withheld for back taxes but that the fighter involved in that action, whom he refused to identify, is not Mayweather.

“I asked if I should expect a notification for anyone else, because Mayweather’s tax situation has been all over the news, and they said, ‘No,’” Gutierrez said. “Obviously, if they give me something at the weigh-in, I’m obliged to do what they say. At this point, nothing has happened in relation to Mayweather.”

It seems like some people don’t want to admit that Mayweather is having any problems with the IRS at all. Why all the secrecy? That’s something that I find a little intriguing.

Mayweather’s financial situation though hardly seems secure. Just last week JP Morgan sued the boxer in Clark Country District Court, claiming that he had stopped making payments on a $528,000 Maybach sedan he had purchased in February of 2007. The banks repossessed the car with Mayweather still owing $363,000 and then sold it at an auction for $196,000. Now they are trying to recoup the difference.

It seems odd that such a well known undefeated fighter in such a money rich sport could be having such financial difficulties. I tend to believe that he does owe the IRS the money, and that a deal has been put into place in regards to his purse for this fight. Maybe that is why he agreed to take the fight against Marquez, rather than fight a more high profile fighter where he wouldn’t be such a heavy favorite. I just hope his head is in the right place for this fight. Mayweather seemed to be happy to retire on top, now if he tarnishes his legacy in attempts to pay off debt that would be a dam shame.