Floyd Mayweather has never been shy about flaunting how much money he has, but paying his debts to the government is a different story. According to a report from ESPN, Mayweather has said he will not be able to pay off a tax liability from 2015 until after his upcoming fight with Conor McGregor.
Darren Rovell of ESPN reports Mayweather filed a petition on July 5 to ask for more time to pay off a debt to the IRS. How much Mayweather needs to pay the IRS is not reported, but it is worth noting the IRS has not bought Mayweather’s excuses for not having enough on hand to be able to pay his debt. The IRS has noted Mayweather has enough assets to cover the debts owed, but that would require Mayweather to sell off some of his property.
“Although the taxpayer has substantial assets, those assets are restricted and primarily illiquid,” the petition said, according to the legal website Law360. “The taxpayer has a significant liquidity event scheduled in about 60 days from which he intends to pay the balance of the 2015 tax liability due and outstanding.”
As noted by Rovell, Mayweather took in $220 million for his 2015 fight against Manny Pacquiao, and he’ll once again be raking in some serious funds with his upcoming bout with MMA star McGregor. On top of his Pacquiao earnings, Mayweather also earned $32 million for a fight against Andre Berto in September of 2015. Mayweather also likely owes 7.5 percent in late fees to tack on to his debt to the IRS from 2015.
And who knows how much Mayweather won in gambling that year. In 2015 alone, we know Mayweather claimed to bet $350,000 on four sporting events in one weekend, and won all four of the bets for a reported winning of nearly $830,000 (which was actually a net win of closer to $500,000). And that was just one weekend!
So maybe it was not a coincidence that Mayweather has finally come around to accepting a challenge from the world of MMA. Mayweather’s easiest way to make a few bucks is to stage a fight that will drive up the pay-per-view sales.
[ESPN]
