Floyd Mayweather is mired in yet another court case as his ex-girlfriend has just filed a defamation lawsuit against him over his recent public comments about an incident of domestic violence from 2010.
Only days after his big payday from the weekend fight with Manny Pacquiao on Saturday, Mayweather’s former girlfriend Josie Harris filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court claiming he defamed her as a drug abuser.
Mayweather spoke about the domestic violence during an April interview with Katie Couric where the boxer told Couric that the injuries his girlfriend suffered were a result of his having to restrain her because she was on drugs.
Mayweather insisted that he was simply trying to stop Harris from hurting herself or her children, who were also present during the incident.
“Did I restrain a woman that was on drugs?” Mayweather told Couric. “Yes I did. So if they say that it’s domestic violence, then you know what, I’m guilty of restraining a person.”
But through her lawsuit, Harris says that Mayweather’s claim she was on drugs is defamatory.
“The statements by Mayweather during the Couric interview were totally and unequivocally false and defamatory. The true facts are Harris was not a drug-abuser or drug-addict,” the lawsuit states.
Harris, who is trying to break into the TV business, is demanding a $20 million award.
This isn’t the first time Mayweather has been sued by an ex. Last year ex-fiancee Shantel Jackson sued Mayweather for invading her privacy by posting images of her sonogram and then saying he broke up with her because she had an abortion.
Last November, Mayweather insisted that Jackson’s abortion was “fair game” for public discussion. He added that the two were “too famous for privacy.”
The boxer also has a long list of domestic abuse charges and even served several months in jail for the incident with Jossie Harris.
Mayweather’s opponent, Manny Pacquiao, has also had his brushes with the legal system. In 2013, he was accused of “mauling” someone during a political rally in his home country of the Philippines. He also faced accusations of election fraud and vote buying.
Pacquiao may also face charges of perjury for not disclosing his shoulder injury before the big fight last weekend. In his pre-fight medical survey, Pacquiao insisted he was in good health, but some now suspect that his shoulder was injured before the fight. A lawsuit has also been filed over the injury.
Mayweather and Pacquiao raked in upwards of $300 million in a 60/40 split from last weekend’s fight, which the American won via unanimous decision.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com
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