temporary restraining – An exhibition fight Floyd Mayweather planned for Saturday, June 27 in Athens now depends on a ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Vernon S. Broderick in New York after DAZN removed the bout from its schedule and no broadcaster deal is in place.
Floyd Mayweather’s exhibition fight against Mike Zambidis on Saturday, June 27 in Athens, Greece still hangs in the balance—two hours after the legal teams argued by phone, and with DAZN having already pulled the event from its broadcast schedule.
Attorney Melissa Glass. representing Mayweather. told the court there are no deals in place with a broadcaster or distributor for how fans will watch if the bout proceeds. DAZN. which had been set to offer the fight on pay-per-view. removed it from its broadcast schedule. leaving the event’s future tied tightly to what U.S. District Court Judge Vernon S. Broderick decides next.
Broderick. after presiding over a two-hour hearing by phone on Wednesday. June 24. said he would rule Thursday on a motion for a temporary restraining order filed by CSI Entertainment. CSI is trying to keep Mayweather from fighting Zambidis. and the company and related entities have sued Mayweather for breach of contract.
During the hearing. Judd Burstein. an attorney representing CSI. argued that staging the Zambidis fight would jeopardize the value of “exclusive rights” CSI says it holds to produce fights involving Mayweather against Mike Tyson and against Manny Pacquiao. He said the fight between Tyson and Mayweather has been rescheduled for Sept. 26, while the fight against Pacquiao has been scheduled for January.
Burstein also said the Tyson bout was originally planned for the spring but was postponed after Tyson suffered a broken hand. He added that those bouts could be held only if Mayweather agrees to fight, pointing to how an exhibition elsewhere could interfere with CSI’s arrangements.
The Zambidis fight dispute also intersects with what CSI says has already changed behind the scenes. Burstein said Mayweather and Pacquiao had been negotiating with a separate group tied to a plan that would call for Netflix to air a fight in September.
The legal fight over the June 27 exhibition comes down, in part, to CSI’s warnings about risk. CSI says a poor performance by Mayweather or an injury suffered by Mayweather would jeopardize the Tyson fight and undermine CSI’s “exclusive rights.” Glass pushed back. saying the temporary restraining order would affect Mayweather’s ability to work. and saying CSI had not met the burden of proof required for a temporary restraining order.
The sequence of claims is stark: CSI frames the Zambidis bout as a threat to the value of future exclusive rights, while Mayweather’s side argues it is asking the court for an extreme remedy without clearing the legal bar.
CSI Entertainment’s lawsuit earlier this month does not stop with blocking the fight. It also seeks monetary damages. CSI says it paid Mayweather directly or indirectly more than $4.5 million in advances.
In the complaint, CSI alleges Mayweather was set to receive $14 million for the Tyson fight. It says that fight was originally set for the spring before Tyson broke his hand. The complaint also says Mayweather was to receive upward of $35 million for the Pacquiao fight.
CSI further alleges Mayweather breached the contracts when he signed a deal with EverWonder Studios that called for the fight between Mayweather and Pacquaio to be aired by Netflix. The complaint adds that Mayweather took a $5.8 million loan from a third party on the contract with EverWonder.
According to CSI, it tried to negotiate a settlement before Mayweather breached the contract again when he announced his fight against Zambidis without consulting CSI, as alleged in the complaint.
With the DAZN pay-per-view plan removed and broadcaster arrangements still not secured, Broderick’s Thursday ruling may determine more than whether a boxing star steps into the ring on June 27—it may decide whether Mayweather’s weekend schedule survives at all.
Floyd Mayweather Mike Zambidis Vernon S. Broderick temporary restraining order CSI Entertainment DAZN exhibition fight Athens sports broadcasting rights Netflix EverWonder Studios
So it’s not happening unless a judge says yes? Wild.
DAZN pulled it already so I’m confused why they’re even still arguing. If they can’t get a broadcaster deal, that feels like it should be over right there. Sounds like money fights more than boxing.
Wait I thought DAZN was for sure doing the PPV, but now it’s all “temporary restraining order” stuff? Like can CSI actually stop Mayweather from fighting in Greece because they have “exclusive rights”?? Not gonna lie I don’t get how that works with the Tyson and Pacquiao dates either.
This is one of those things where the headline says “judge decides” but really it’s just contracts tangled up. If the Tyson fight was supposed to happen earlier and got pushed, then why are they acting like a Zambidis exhibition ruins everything? Also Athens is Greece right, so are they all just waiting on New York paperwork like it’s the same country lol. Either way I feel like fans are gonna get screwed if there’s no TV deal.