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David Mayo of the Grand Rapids Press is reporting that despite the constant claims to the contrary by both Floyd Mayweather Jr. and his business manager, Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather's tax problems look very real. Real enough that the IRS will be taking about $5 million of his purse on Saturday night when he fights Juan Manuel Marquez. But there are conflicting statements coming out of the people around the fight that are talking about this situation.
Nevada Athletic Commission head Keith Kizer says that the IRS is taking the money:
Keith Kizer, the top official in Nevada's boxing governing body, said he understands that there "has been a levy against the purse and there is an agreement between Floyd Mayweather and the IRS, in an amount of approximately $5 million."
Kizer added that the IRS has not formally attached Mayweather's purse and he didn't know "exactly how it will be handled."
But Golden Boy Promotions financial man Raul Gutierrez counters with this statement:
Raul Gutierrez, CFO of Golden Boy Promotions, said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles that he had received notification from the IRS that part of one purse must be withheld for back taxes but that the fighter involved in that action, whom he refused to identify, is not Mayweather.
"I asked if I should expect a notification for anyone else, because Mayweather's tax situation has been all over the news, and they said, 'No,'" Gutierrez said. "Obviously, if they give me something at the weigh-in, I'm obliged to do what they say. At this point, nothing has happened in relation to Mayweather."
It's odd that Golden Boy is handling all the money considering "Mayweather Promotions" was supposedly the lead promoter here. You'd expect that, at the least, any questions regarding Mayweather's purse would not go to Gutierrez but to Leonard Ellerbe.
Mayweather continues to be very vocal about owing nothing, despite the Associated Press investigation a while back that said he owes $6.1 million overall, and also despite the fact that JP Morgan Chase Bank has just sued him for the remaining balance on a Maybach that he never paid off.
