This article has subsequently destroyed Team Mayweathers relationship with Boxingtalk and its writers.
As Leon said in his most recent mailbag, 'If it weren't true somebody would have sued me for defamation by now right?' ;D
Did Money Mayweather Gets Madoffed?
Why did Floyd Mayweather Jr retire from boxing? Because he no longer needed boxing for anything. A position he cemented by walking away from a rematch of the most lucrative fight in the history of the sport. Many, including myself, feel Mayweather made a terrible mistake. Naturally "Money" didn't care what any of us thought, and he had about $40M reasons to feel this way. Why did Floyd Mayweather Jr return to boxing? Money. What the hell happened to all of his money? That's the question nobody has been able to answer, until now.
To make a long story short, Boxingtalk.com understands that during his retirement, Mayweather quickly formed a friendship with a fellow named Willie, who allegedly managed to hustle Mayweather out of so much of his money that he couldn't even afford to pay taxes on his 2007 earnings.
Allegedly Willie told Floyd that he can turn $1M into $4M in a month or less. Floyd gives him the mill and a few DAYS later Willie comes back to Mayweather with $5M.
Of course greed is the reason Mayweather allegedly decided to give Willie the vast majority of his bank account (anywhere from $26-42M) instead of another million or two, or three, or four that he just made.
Mayweather allegedly gives Willie all of his money, and Willie hasn't been seen or heard from since.
Perhaps Big Willie told Floyd that he could turn eight figures into nine figures on another quick flip and it became too much for Floyd to resist.
The desperation Moneyless Mayweather's experienced was evident when he nearly signed a three fight deal with Don King Productions without informing his advisors Leonard Ellerbe or Al Haymon.
Boxingtalk also understands that Haymon, had to leave his ill mother's bedside, and rush to Florida to block the deal from happening by assuring Floyd that he would make more for his next fight without King.
Haymon also allegedly broke off Floyd with a substantial amount of money to hold him down until pay day. This probably marks the first time Mayweather, an HBO fighter for years before Haymon joined the team, actually needed the concert promoter for anything.
Being affiliated with the best fighter in the world certainly helped Haymon secure clients. Working with Mayweather also enabled Haymon to get other clients of his like Vernon Forrest (RIP) and Andre Berto quick title fights against less than stellar opposition because of WHEN Mayweather vacated.
Forrest defeated Carlos Baldomir for the WBC 154 pound title Mayweather won from Oscar De La Hoya and Andre Berto's HBO televised tune up against Mickey "Mouse" Rodriguez became a world title fight when Mayweather vacated the WBC welterweight strap he defended against Ricky Hatton in his last fight. Making those moves fattened everybody but Mayweather's pockets, so according to my calculations Haymon still owes Mayweather at least one favor.
Since he walked on the De La Hoya rematch, Mayweather's decisions have enabled Manny Pacquiao to become a boxing superstar, have cost Floyd millions of dollars in cash, jewelry, automobiles and priceless personal items like the outfit he wore against Zab Judah (nearly $10,000), and the segway shown on HBO's first 24/7 ($3k) were auctioned off on ebay.
Fortunately, he has the talent to make it all back with interest in a year or two. He's always trained like a hungry fighter, and is one of the most gifted fighters I've ever seen, but he needs a win over Marquez more than he's ever needed anything from boxing before because a loss to Marquez would prevent Lil Floyd from ever making big Willie money again.