Top Rank lawsuit might end any chance of a Mayweather vs. Pacquiao rematch ever happening

The future of a Mayweather vs. Pacquiao rematch took a major hit yesterday, as Top Rank, the promotional company headed up by legendary promoter Bob Arum filed a 100 million dollar lawsuit against adviser/manager Al Haymon.

The lawsuit also includes Waddell & Reed, a Kansas City, Missouri-based investment group that has invested more than $400 million in Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions series. This lawsuit follows the 300 million dollar suit filed in May by Golden Boy Promotions which makes many of the same accusations.

With the paper work being officially filed, and Top Rank now committed to this suit, any progress created from the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao bout that saw promotional rivals and television companies working together creating an event that became the largest in boxing history, generating over $600 million in revenue, now seems lost.

The official estimates figure that Floyd Mayweather took around $220-$230 million from his 60% piece of the event, while Manny Pacquiao will reportedly receive over $150 million from his 40% stake.

With this much money being generated, and the built in excuse of an injury being in play, the stage seemed set for a rematch in May of next year. Pacquiao would be coming off a one year lay off and shoulder surgery, while Mayweather would be looking to break Rocky Marciano’s record of 50-0.

Now with this lawsuit being filed, the chances of a rematch ever happening seem very slim. Al Haymon is not only the adviser to Floyd Mayweather, but he is also a close friend and with so much money already being made, they are unlikely to have the desire to overcome this major hurdle that now stands in the way of those two fighters ever stepping into the ring with each other again.

There was also talk of Timothy Bradley being in play for Floyd Mayweather’s September bout, but that option too, seems to have gone down the drain. Top Rank along with Golden Boy site violations in the Muhammad Ali act, which was established to protect fighters from managers who also act as promoters. Haymon has used smaller promotional companies to promote his cards, while he handles the managerial role for his boxers.

The goal of Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions was to bring boxing back to free television, and so far in it’s first 4 months, it has been very popular with the boxing fans, even though it seems to struggle with ratings and sponsorship. Most experts figure Haymon’s investors will lose $200 million in the first two years of the promotion while it establishes it roots on network TV.

How these lawsuits will turn out, only time will tell, but with two of the biggest companies in the sport making the same claims, it is likely that other promoters might also file suit. The repeating theme of the sport still continues, as when there is progress in one direction, there seems to be another conflict that prevents some of the best match ups in the sport from happening.

Mayweather vs. Pacquiao was the highest grossing event in boxing history, but it was not an event that really will be remembered for anything more then that. The fight itself was a disappointment and any interest in a rematch was created from Manny Pacquiao claiming he was not 100% healthy for the bout.

We might never know the truth of how much he was affected or if a rematch might play out any differently, but we as boxing fans should just be happy that the fight happened in the first place, because with this much turmoil between the companies, it’s unlikely we will ever see them work together again.