Columnist Dean Juipe: Mayweather has issues, legal woes

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, April 17, 2002 | 9:27 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

I have to admit John Moran III took me by surprise.

I called him Tuesday to check on the status of a civil suit he brought on behalf of a man who said he was struck over the head with a champagne bottle by Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Moran responded with a tidal wave of information and allegations pertaining to the boxer.

By the time our conversation was over, it was apparent that Mayweather may not only challenge Mike Tyson for the title of "Baddest Man on the Planet" but he may also equal the former heavyweight champion when it comes to requiring widespread legal representation.

"Because of his money, Mayweather has never paid the consequence for the many incidents in which he has been involved," Moran said. "I've got three cases pending against him and I know of hundreds of Las Vegas Metropolitan Police reports with Floyd Mayweather Jr. involved in unlawful conduct."

Hundreds? That's an exaggeration, right?

"No, it's not," the attorney replied. "There are countless incidents where he's brandishing a gun, beating somebody up or kicking somebody when they're on the ground."

"It's just that Metro doesn't have the money or the manpower to investigate them all."

Mayweather's legal status has come into question because he's fighting for the World Boxing Council lightweight championship Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden. He was also just handed a six-month suspended sentence (and fined $3,000 and given 48 hours of community service) in a plea pertaining to two counts of domestic violence.

(Another fighter on the Saturday card, former lightweight champ Stevie Johnston, owes $136,000 in back child support, giving the MGM show a "Jailhouse Rock" feel to it.)

"It really surprises me that the Nevada State Athletic Commission would allow and sanction a boxer to fight when he has already proved himself to be so unreasonably dangerous in public," Moran said of Mayweather, a Las Vegas resident who is 25 years old and sports a boxing record of 27-0. "This guy is a real bad actor and is definitely not someone to look up to as a role model or champion."

Moran further maintained that Mayweather's transgressions are no less serious than Tyson's, and that if the NSAC wanted to be consistent it would bar Mayweather from fighting here, as it did when it rejected Tyson's request for a license earlier this year.

If the sum and substance of Moran's input is correct, perhaps the commission should get involved.

Beyond the case involving Mayweather, the champagne bottle and complainant Greg Bedford (who is seeking $750,000 to $1 million in damages), Moran is handling two other civil matters in which Mayweather is the defendant. One involves Melissa Brim, the mother of one of Mayweather's children, who is seeking $1 million on an assault and battery claim, while the other involves Brim's father, James, and a separate assault and battery charge against Mayweather.

Win or lose Saturday, it appears as if Mayweather has already been branded and it has nothing to do with his haughty disposition. His boxing successes aside, he might well be an unrepentant loser.

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