By: Sean Crose
By 1905 John L. Sullivan the former heavyweight champion of the world had decided to give up drinking. He assumed he had lost over 200,000 American dollars thanks to his addiction. One could only imagine how much money the man drank away in today’s currency. Believe it or not, however, the boisterous Sullivan ended up having one of the happier endings in boxing. Living outside of Boston, his hometown, he had become a speaker for temperance. Other famous fighters have not feared so well. The truth is boxing then, like now, had a problem… that problem being fighters losing their money either due to their own lack of business acumen, addiction or criminal behavior on behalf of those who should have known better.
Floyd Mayweather’s recent lawsuit against Showtime and Stephen Espinoza in particular is a prime example of a notable fighter trying to get money he says is owed him. Whether Mayweather is right to demand this money or not remains to be seen, but the situation itself is nothing new to those who follow the sweet science or who know its history. Mike Tyson. Muhammad Ali. Julio Cesar Chavez and countless others it seems have found themselves suing for money they claim is rightfully theirs. Each case is its own entity, of course, but the sheer volume of top fighters ending up taking a case to the courtroom is notable.
While it’s true that many fighters handle their money well (one very famous retired fighter once told me the reason he didn’t go broke is because he altered his lifestyle after massive amounts of money stopped coming in). Many, however, do not. That’s worth bringing up. Indeed some fighters lose a lot of money … lot of money. And sadly they only have themselves to blame. It’s hard to imagine, though, that no great fighters of note were ever taken advantage of by hangers on, promoters, managers, and the like.
It’s difficult to say how the Mayweather matter will play itself out. My feeling is that the situation may well be settled outside of court. Then again, practically anything is apt to go down in the wild world of boxing. For all anyone knows, Mayweather is doing quite well financially and his lawsuit is simply based on principle. Here’s hoping the man isn’t in financial trouble. He’s worked too hard to deserve to be broke. The sad fact of the matter, though, is that Mayweather is likely far from the last known boxer to sue for money he claims is owed – just like he’s far from the first.
