By Rick Reeno
Floyd Mayweather Jr. has given his opinion on the ongoing legal situation between former champion Yuriorkis Gamboa (21-0, 16KOs) and Las Vegas based promotional company Top Rank.
In March, Top Rank filed a federal lawsuit in the state of Nevada against Gamboa. The promotional company is seeking to recover damages due to an alleged "breach of contract" by Gamboa.
Gamboa, moving up by two weight divisions, was scheduled to fight Brandon Rios (30-0-1, 22KOs) in an HBO televised main event on April 14th at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. However, Gamboa no-showed press conferences in Miami and Los Angeles - and he refused to move forward with the fight, citing differences with his promoters Top Rank and Ahmet Oner of Arena Box.
As a result of Gamboa's position, a deal was finalized for Rios to face WBA interim-lightweight champion Richard Abril (17-3-1, 8KOs).
In Top Rank's legal papers, they claim to have satisfied several of Gamboa requests - including monetary advances totaling $70,000, the scheduling of a press conference in his hometown of Miami, and agreeing to provide the Cuban boxer with four times his contract minimum to fight Rios.
It's not exactly a secret that Gamboa has been spending a lot of time with Mayweather and other members of his team. There are allegations out there that individuals affiliated with Mayweather's promotional company, Mayweather Promotions, persuaded Gamboa to walk away from the Rios deal.
According to Mayweather, Top Rank is allegedly attempting a legal suit against Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe, regarding the Gamboa situation.
"Bob Arum has been filling you all up with this bullsh*t for years and robbing fighters. He's trying to sue Leonard for Gamboa, knowing that he's been treating his fighter wrong. Knowing he's been treating his fighter wrong. [Gamboa] came over here and all this fighter wanted to do is making a living. They've been treating this fighter wrong from the beginning. I'm wrong because I want to treat a fighter right? You know why? Because Don King and Bob Arum can't see out the eyes of a fighter, because they are not a fighter," Mayweather said.
"They look at it as a promoter because all they care about is the f***ing money. I care about a fighter's well-being because I'm a f****ing fighter. I know how it is. I know how it is to have a broken rib for the rest of your life. I know how it is to piss blood."