Floyd Mayweather and 50 Cent have been at arm’s length for many years now.
The NYC rapper and professional boxer/boxing promoter were great friends back in the 2000s, sharing common interests like flaunting lifestyle, fame, and wealth. The bond between these two was so solid that they referred to themselves as “brothers,” and the relationship grew even stronger since 50 Cent was already a successful rapper and Floyd Mayweather was the greatest of all time in boxing at the time.
50 Cent would accompany Floyd Mayweather to his fights and lead him into the ring in support, making the friendship stronger.
But then, their friendship took a not-so-good turn in 2012 when 50 Cent decided to invest in a boxing promotion company, TMT, expecting Floyd Mayweather to be part of it.
However, Floyd Mayweather went to jail because he was convicted of domestic violence and harassment by his ex-girlfriend, Josie Harris, who claimed he allegedly assaulted her in front of their kids.
According to 50 Cent, speaking on FighterHUB, he started setting up TMT while Floyd was in jail. 50 Cent signed actual fighters and invested around $2 million while Floyd was incarcerated, but when Mayweather was released, he backed out of TMT.
“He changed his mind as he was going into jail. He asked me to help him with Mayweather Promotions, sign actual fighters with the acquisition of Gamboa, Andre Dirrell, and IBF Champion Dib. I brought them over while Floyd was incarcerated. Then he comes home—let’s get Floyd back in—$300,000 chains, new Lamborghinis, and I’m sitting there going, ‘When you gonna give me the money?’
I ain’t trying to press him because he just got out of jail. I’m talking about $2 million—when he brings up the actual situation, he acts like he doesn’t know anything.
‘I didn’t tell you to do that,’ and as I’m looking at him, he’s looking in my face, telling me he didn’t ask me to do that.”
Despite these allegations made by 50 Cent, Floyd Mayweather, in an exclusive interview with N.O.R.E. on Drink Champs, gave his side of the story, insinuating that 50 Cent was lying.
According to the boxer, when he got out of jail, 50 Cent proposed the business to him, hoping they would go 50/50, but he didn’t buy into it because he felt he was already content with what he was doing—boxing and Mayweather Promotions. He only found out about 50 Cent’s grudge over it in a newspaper when he returned from his vacation.
“I come home, and then when I was on my vacation, I see the newspaper saying that he started TMT Promotions. And when I came home, I guess he wanted to become 50/50 in the boxing business.
My thing was just that I was happy and comfortable with what I was already doing, and I guess he wanted to be part of what I was doing. And I said, ‘We’re friends, we got a great relationship, we can keep it like that. No hard feelings, no grudge.’
And then one day, I don’t know if he was upset, but one day, I see on the internet that it says 50 Cent said… and I’m like, ‘No, 50 Cent is my family. I’m with this m***f**er literally every day.”
Mayweather said to N.O.R.E. on Drink Champs when asked what really caused his fallout with 50 Cent.
This interview debunked the narrative by 50 Cent that Mayweather owed him money, which he used to manage TMT Promotions while Floyd was in jail. Mayweather stood firm on his stance that he wasn’t aware of anything concerning 50 Cent running their promotion company while he was incarcerated, which caused a great rift between them and subsequently 50 Cent feeling scammed and betrayed by Floyd Mayweather.
Moving on and trying to distract himself after the failed business adventure with Floyd, who declined after his 90-day jail term, 50 Cent took the fighters he signed—Gamboa Yuriorkis, Andre Dirrell, and IBF Champion Dib—and created SMS Promotions on his own, named after his SMS Audio brand.
50 Cent launched SMS Promotions in November 2012 and even obtained a promoter’s license in NYC and Nevada which ran for sometime, though didn’t make any much significant success until 2015, when SMS filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11, claiming it was restructuring. However, the company ultimately dissolved, with reports suggesting it didn’t yield the expected returns.
Since then, they have both [50 Cent and Floyd Mayweather] started going at each other, throwing jabs and shades at every given opportunity.
50 Cent has rubbed in the fact that he has legal power over the TMT brand Mayweather was actively using, saying that he legally incorporated TMT (The Money Team) in Delaware while Floyd Mayweather was in jail. Even though Floyd Mayweather never signed off on it, the corporation itself was still legally established, giving 50 Cent all the legal rights or leverage over TMT, including branded clothing like socks and shirts.
Speaking on Drink Champs, the rapper revealed:
“I can stop them from using TMT as their logo right now. I’m just not chasing, but to be honest, I incorporated TMT in Delaware while he was incarcerated. Just because he didn’t sign the papers doesn’t mean the corporation isn’t valid.
So I could, technically, trademark the term because the entire corporation is built on it. So I could tell you, ‘You can’t have TMT socks, you can’t have that TMT shirt you got on.’ You won’t understand that because you just are not… I could say it, and you just won’t understand because you just aren’t… I could say it, and you just won’t understand. I could do that.”
