Judge KO’s class-action case from Mayweather-Pacquiao fight
LAS VEGAS — A federal judge in California knocked out a class-action lawsuit Friday that had been filed on behalf of fight fans and pay-per-view subscribers upset that boxer Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines wasn’t 100 per cent healthy for his May 2015 fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Las Vegas.
In dismissing a consolidated batch of lawsuits, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner in Los Angeles nevertheless said he has sympathy for fans around the country who felt deceived that Pacquiao didn’t disclose he had a shoulder injury until about three hours before the fight.
Mayweather won a 12-round decision in an event that drew record cable TV viewership and criticism that the matchup between two of the best fighters of a generation failed to live up its billing.
The judge ruled that fans still got what cable TV providers said viewers paid more than $400 million to see — a boxing match between Pacquiao and Mayweather.