Everyone, it seems, is desperate to see Manny Pacquiao fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. A bout between them would likely set gate and pay-per-view records.
They are fighting in a different venue, however, and Pacquiao got a minor win on Monday.
Pacquiao is suing Mayweather for defamation over claims Mayweather allegedly made accusing him of using performance enhancing drugs.
Mayweather skipped a deposition last year. He was later seen burning $100 bills in an Atlanta night club at the time he was supposed to be giving his deposition in Las Vegas.
As a result, federal Judge Larry R. Hicks ordered Mayweather to pay Pacquiao’s attorney’s fees of $113,518.50, as well as court costs in the amount of $774.10.
Interestingly, as part of Hicks’ decision, he noted that Pacquiao attorneys David Marroso and Harrison Whitman aren’t doing pro bono work for the champ.
According to Hicks’ order, Marroso is charging Pacquiao $695 an hour, while Whitman is charging $495 an hour.
Hicks wrote:
In such an action as this, between two widely known professional athletes, the parties can reasonably be expected to retain nationally respected law firms and nationally respected attorneys to pursue their interests in the litigation. The results of such representation are going to be higher lodestars than normally seen in this district, but lodestars that are comparable to the amount and quality of work performed and expected to be performed.
The judgement would be huge for most people, but it’s hardly an issue for Mayweather, who routinely bets six-figure amounts on football games. It’s just chump change for a guy who in June was tabbed the highest-paid athlete in the world by Forbes.
Forbes reported that Mayweather earned a combined $85 million in fights with Victor Ortiz in 2011 and Miguel Cotto in May.
Mayweather manager Leonard Ellerbe declined to comment to Yahoo! Sports on the judgement against his client.
