A United States Court has upheld a previous ruling ordering former world boxing champion, Floyd Mayweather Jr., to pay Zinni Media Concept Limited, a Nigerian company, $2.4million in damages for breaching a contract.
The dispute stemed from a 2017 agreement between Zinni Media and Mayweather.
According to a statement by Alex Nwankwo, the company’s media executive, the boxer was contracted to make a series of appearances in Africa, including Nigeria.
However, Mayweather abruptly terminated the deal without cause and refused to refund the advance payment made to him by Zinni Media.
Nwankwo noted that Mayweather’s legal representatives claimed the company, being Nigerian, was outside the jurisdiction for any refund. “After several unsuccessful attempts to recover the appearance fees from the American boxer, the company instituted a legal action against Mayweather in 2018, alleging breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and fraud,” Nwankwo said.
In October 2023, a lower court in California ruled in favour of Zinni Media, awarding the company $1.6 million in damages, $721,881 in prejudgment interest, $16,270 in attorney fees, and $285 in other costs, totaling $2.4 million.
Mayweather appealed the ruling, but in the latest decision on August 27, 2024, the California Court of Appeals, through its clerk Eva McClintock, affirmed the lower court’s judgment. Despite the finality of the case, Mayweather was yet to pay the damages.
Nwankwo added that the court had directed U.S. attorneys to enforce the judgement, with instructions to target Mayweather’s assets, including a 2015 Bugatti GSV and a 2015 Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta, both valued above the amount owed. “We are grateful that two courts have granted a prayer by Zinni Media Ltd to impose terminating sanctions against Mayweather,” Nwankwo said.
Mayweather has continued to face additional penalties as the unpaid judgement accrues interest at 10 per cent per year.
