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jewelry company has sued Floyd Mayweather Jr., claiming the world champion boxer owes tens of thousands of dollars for a number of custom pieces, including a diamond-encrusted belt buckle bearing his name.
Jewelers of Las Vegas filed the lawsuit this week in Clark County District Court, claiming breach of contract. Mayweather has an unpaid bill of $124,000 (€102,115) for more than 20 pieces of jewelry purchased from the store since June 2004, according to the lawsuit.
Lawyer Frank Cremen, who represents the jeweler, said Mayweather promised on a number of occasions to make the account current, but the “running balance has gotten excessive.”
“The account is fairly sizable, and he has just not paid it off,” Cremen said.
Mayweather could not be reached for comment. Messages left Thursday and Friday for his lawyer were not returned.
Mayweather, who is undefeated in 34 fights, took the World Boxing Council’s super lightweight title from Arturo Gatti during a bout last month in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He previously won the WBC super featherweight and lightweight belts.
Leor Yerushalmi, vice president of Jewelers of Las Vegas, said Mayweather promised to pay off the balance after a bout with DeMarcus Corley last year and after the Gatti fight. Instead, Mayweather asked to return some custom pieces, including the belt buckle and dog tags encrusted with white and yellow diamonds.
Yerushalmi said his company was willing to accept the items and give Mayweather credit toward future purchases, but wanted the balance paid. When Mayweather failed to do so, the company filed suit.
“I was left with no other option,” Yerushalmi said. “It’s just unfortunate because I considered him a very close friend.”
The lawsuit, filed Monday, is the latest legal battle facing the 28-year-old boxer. He is scheduled for trial Tuesday on three felony charges stemming from a December 2003 incident in which he is accused of striking the mother of his three children at a Las Vegas nightclub.
In February, Mayweather was fined and ordered to perform community service after pleading no contest in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to a charge of misdemeanor assault and battery for a bar fight.
Mayweather, who grew up in Grand Rapids, lives and trains in Las Vegas.
Last year, Mayweather was convicted of misdemeanor battery stemming from a fight with two women inside a Las Vegas nightclub. He received a suspended one-year jail sentence and was ordered to undergo “impulse-control” counseling.
