When a grand apartment at the Baccarat Hotel & Residences caught the eye of boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr., he agreed to rent it for a year — for a hefty $100,000 a month. At the time, it was Midtown’s most expensive rental, as Gimme Shelter reported exclusively.

There was just one condition: The deal had to be signed that very day, so Mayweather could move in that evening. It was just before Christmas in 2024.

Mayweather, the undefeated boxing champ who earned more than $1.1 billion over the years and became a real estate investor, is one of the best paid athletes of all time. But that hasn’t stopped Mayweather’s former landlords at the Baccarat, who are suing the boxing champ in New York State Supreme Court for breach of contract over allegations of unpaid rent. 

Mayweather’s lawyer, Bobby Samini, declined Gimme Shelter’s request for comment.

In addition, Mayweather is currently facing a $7.27 million IRS lien for unpaid federal taxes tied to 2018 and 2023, and in May, Mayweather sued his former investment advisor, Jona Rechnitz, and others for $175 million amid allegations of fraud, theft, and mismanagement of funds and assets including jewelry, a jet and real estate.

(Rechnitz denies wrongdoing. In a statement, his lawyer Morris Missry said Mayweather’s claims “are utterly baseless” and that Mayweather has “gambling issues, prolific spending habits, monies owed to third party creditors and IRS tax liens and levys [sic].”)

It appears Mayweather’s most recent financial disputes may have begun at the Baccarat home.

On the day that Mayweather decided he needed to rent the Baccarat residence, he was staying nearby at the Plaza Hotel.

He had seen a promotional video of the 18th-floor aerie starring reality TV’s Brooks Nader, of “Love Thy Nader.” The cast of “Emily in Paris” had also done a photo shoot there.

“He was in a big rush. Floyd was adamant that he needed the keys. He’s a very impulsive guy and decided he just had to have it right then,” said a source close to the deal. 

Known as the Gemstone Terrace, the five-bedroom, 4,178-square-foot spread at 20 W. 53rd St. came with an eat-in chef’s kitchen, five marbled baths, two marbled powder rooms — and a pickleball court on its massive 3,100-square-foot terrace.

“It was a lot of work, but we made it happen,” Compass broker Brian K. Lewis, who at the time shared the Baccarat listing with Ryan Garson, also of Compass, told Gimme Shelter.

“Jona spearheaded the search,” Garson said. “He saw the apartment at 8:30 a.m. and said the deal was contingent on having Floyd move in that day. We negotiated all day using creative strategies to accelerate the approval process and move him in the same day.”

Added Lewis: “We did right by our clients, the owners of the apartment, and served our fiduciary responsibility. I’m proud of that.”

Mayweather arrived around 6 p.m. that evening, clad in Versace and carrying a Gucci duffle bag. He wrote a check to the owners for $200,000 — the first month’s rent and a security deposit — and he signed a separate agreement with a staging company for the furniture, the brokers said. 

“He was dressed well and looking good. He was a really nice guy,” Lewis said.

“He moved right in then and there. The staff loved him. There were no complaints,” Garson added.

At the time, Mayweather even invited the brokers and the unit’s owners, Miami entrepreneurs and philanthropists David and Leila Centner, to his 48th birthday party, which was to be held two months later, in February, at the former Gianni Versace mansion in Miami. Mayweather allegedly said he owned it. (In fact, Mayweather had put down a $250,000 deposit to own a part of it, and hosted his birthday party there before declining to close on the deal, after which the deposit was returned, the Real Deal later reported.) Mayweather has not commented publicly on this deal. 

Meanwhile at the Baccarat, everything was going fine with the rental for the first six months; rent was paid from December through June.

That’s when Mayweather allegedly stopped paying and broke the lease, said the brokers and their clients.

In a summons with notice filed in January in New York State Supreme Court, the Centners — through their two LLCs, Perpetual Love Investments LLC and Perpetual Love Condo LLC — claim that Mayweather signed a settlement agreement, which was submitted as an exhibit in the court documents, acknowledging $515,834.25 in unpaid rent and damages.

It also claims that Mayweather agreed to pay the amount in full and vacate the apartment by Dec. 2, 2026. But, the Centners allege, while Mayweather left the apartment, and made one single $100,000 payment, he never paid the full amount that he owed. Mayweather has not commented on the allegations and his lawyer did not return calls.

The summons also noted that the Centners sued Mayweather for $337,736.13 for breach of contract. In an interview with Gimme Shelter, Leila said she had hoped the issue would have been resolved without a lawsuit. That amount subtracts the $100,000 payment plus the $100,000 security deposit from the amount owed, Leila said.

“After [Leila Centner] spoke to him, [Mayweather] signed an agreement to take care of it [to pay what he owed]. He left the apartment, but he failed to make the payments that he had committed to,” said a source close to the rental deal.

Today, the apartment — which Mayweather had told the Centners that he wanted to buy, is being rented for $140,000 to another tenant, sources said. What’s more, it’s also in contract to sell, Gimme Shelter can reveal exclusively.

While the final price is not yet known, it was last asking $24.99 million with listing broker Rena Kliot of Pulse International Realty, who declined to comment.

Mayweather’s rental deal with the Centners was negotiated through Mayweather’s investment advisor Rechnitz, a former FBI informant who had once been a top campaign donor to Bill de Blasio — who called Rechnitz a “brother” in emails. That was before Rechnitz was accused of trying to bribe NYPD officials with hookers on private jets; he pleaded guilty in 2016 for his role in the so-called NYPD corruption scandal.

Before Mayweather allegedly stopped paying rent, Garson said he ran into Mayweather and Rechnitz at a Lakers game in LA.

“I was randomly right behind Jona and Floyd. They were courtside and I was behind them. I went up to say hello and we talked about the apartment. Floyd said he really wanted to buy it. We talked about putting a pool on the terrace. It was amazing,” Garson told Gimme Shelter. “He also wanted to buy the apartment next door, which we had [as a so-called pocket, or whisper listing] off market, and combine the two using Robert A.M. Stern Architects.”

At first, the monthly rental checks stopped coming in because Mayweather said he would purchase the unit. The rent payments would supposedly be tied to a sale, said the brokers and other sources.

But as it became clear that Mayweather wasn’t going to buy the apartment, the Centners wanted him to pay the rent and damages they were owed. Although Mayweather moved out when he said he would, he never paid what he owed, and the Centners sued for breach of contract in New York State Court in January, according to the summons.

“We were the intermediaries. The owners came to us and we went to Jona. He was our contact. He said the money was coming but it never came,” Garson alleges.

“Floyd is really nice, friendly and hospitable, a great guy. But Jona was calling the shots. They were talking about buying the apartment and the one next door. There was no reason to believe it wouldn’t happen, but it was all hot air, and then the balloon deflated,” Garson said.

In an interview with Gimme Shelter, Leila said that when she ultimately reached Mayweather, he seemed genuinely surprised to hear that the rent payments had stopped.

“I think that may have tipped him off that something was wrong,” Leila told Gimme, alleging that Mayweather then made one payment, and then simply stopped paying.

The case is ongoing.