Mayweather-Pacquiao Fight Draws Class Action Lawsuits from Ripped-Off Fans

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Manny Pacquiao is hit with class action lawsuit for failing disclose shoulder injury before Mayweather fight.

The “Fight of the Century” May 2 between boxing greats Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao left much to be desired in the way of action, with many fans re-dubbing it the “Fraud of the Century” after paying $100 to watch the pay-per-view “non” event and learning that Pacquiao secretly fought with an injured shoulder.

Now several disgruntled fans are stepping into the legal ring with a pair of class action lawsuits filed yesterday seeking to hold someone — anyone — accountable for the mess.

The first class action lawsuit, filed Tuesday on behalf of Las Vegas residents Stephane Vanel and Kami Rahbaran, seeks more than $5 million in damages from Pacquiao, his manager and his promoters for fraudulently concealing that Pacquiao had been seriously injured with a torn rotator cuff before the fight.

The Pacquiao class action lawsuit says Top Rank Inc., one of the promoters of the fight, failed to disclose the injury to the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) prior to the fight as required by Nevada law.

On May 5, the same day the Pacquiao lawsuit was filed, the NAC announced it is investigating whether Pacquiao committed perjury by signing the pre-fight medical questionnaire saying he had no injuries yet requested a shot of the anti-inflammatory drug Torodol nearly three hours before the fight. It’s reported that Pacquiao will have surgery later this week to repair his shoulder after reinjuring it during the 12-round loss.

Vanel and Rahbaran say the concealment bilked fans out of millions of dollars in ticket and pay-per-view purchases, as well as bets placed on the fight:

“Defendants prior to and at the time the plaintiffs and the class decided to purchase tickets; purchase pay per view showings or wagered on the event the defendants knew and had full knowledge and information that defendant Pacquiao had been seriously injured and was suffering from a torn rotator cuff. Defendants further know that such injury would severely affect his performance.”

The plaintiffs are seeking over $5 million in damages for a proposed Class consisting of all persons who paid for tickets to the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, purchased pay-per-view showings or made wagers on the event, and did not know that Pacquiao was injured. The counts include fraudulent concealment, statutory consumer fraud, and conspiracy to commit consumer fraud.

The second class action lawsuit, also filed May 5, takes aim at Charter Communications Inc., the fourth-largest cable provider in the United States over outages that forced “hundreds, if not thousands” of customers in Missouri, North Carolina and South Carolina to miss most of the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight.

According to the class action lawsuit filed by Missouri plaintiff Anna E. Ralphs:

“Despite the fact that Charter cable customers paid for the fight package, plaintiff and the class and subclass members were unable to watch the pay-per-view fights until, at best, the end of the fourth round of the Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao fight, missing entirely the two undercard fights, the pageantry of how Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao entered the ring, introductions, the National Anthem performed by Jamie Foxx and prefight commentary. At worst, some viewers were unable to view the entire program.”

The class action lawsuit further claims that Charter continued to accept payment for the pay-per-view package even during the service outage.

Ralphs is also seeking over $5 million in damages for Charter customers who paid for the Mayweather- Pacquiao fight and suffered a service outage. The counts include breach of contract and violations of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act.

The Las Vegas Pacquiao Class Action Lawsuit is Stephane Vanel, et al. v. Emmanuel Pacquiao, et al., Case No. 15-cv-00842, in the U.S. District Court of Nevada.

Vanel and Rahbaran are represented by Brandon B. McDonald of McDonald Law Offices, PLLC.

The Missouri Mayweather v.  Pacquiao Cable Class Action Lawsuit is Anna E. Ralphs v. Charter Communications Inc., et al., Case No. 15-cv-00711, in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri, Eastern Division.

Ralphs is represented by Francis J. “Casey” Flynn Jr. of Carey Danis & Lowe and Corey D. Sullivan of Sullivan Law, LLC.