Floyd Mayweather’s planned exhibition fight in Greece is off, leaving organizers, vendors, and the boxer’s camp dealing with the fallout just days before fight night.
The retired champion had been scheduled to face Mike Zambidis in Athens on Saturday, but federal court records filed Thursday show the event will no longer happen as planned.
“Because Plaintiffs’ Motion remains pending without a ruling, the Mayweather-Zambidis event will no longer proceed in Athens, Greece as planned on Saturday evening,” attorney Melissa Glass wrote in a letter to the court.
The cancellation follows a lawsuit from CSI, an events company that claims Mayweather breached a contract involving two other fights. CSI sued in the Southern District of New York and asked for an emergency injunction to stop the Athens bout.
Glass wrote that the lawsuit, the motion, and “legal threats domestically and in Greece” had stopped promotion and distribution plans and “halted ticket sales.”
Promoter Keane Anis of Front Row said in a filing that the event could no longer be pulled off “commercially or operationally.” He claimed Front Row had spent or committed about $7 million, including $3 million already paid to Mayweather.
Mayweather’s manager, Walter Jordan, said Mayweather also spent $250,000 of his own money preparing for the fight.