A Beverly Hills waiter claims the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. last May never would have happened if he didn’t help set it up, and he wants to be compensated for his alleged role in the negotiations.
In a lawsuit obtained by TMZ, Gabriel Salvador, an aspiring actor, says he waited on Les Moonves at Craig’s restaurant and told the CBS boss that he could set up a meeting between Moonves and Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach. Salvador claims he got the men together at Scarpetta in May 2014, which he insists was the first step in hammering out the details of the megafight.
According to Salvador, Moonves and Roach agreed to pay him a “customary finder’s fee” of 2 percent of the gross proceeds earned by Pacquiao, Roach and CBS. Salvador says Roach even told him, “You will never have to work another day as a waiter in your life.”
While Salvador admits he was given a ticket to the fight, one night in a Las Vegas hotel and $10,000 to cover expenses, he says Moonves told him CBS made no money on the fight and that he would have to collect his fee from Pacquiao’s camp. Salvador says a lawyer for Pacquiao and Roach tried to convince him to accept $50,000 and said he would lose his job and never land any acting gigs if he did not accept it. Salvador estimates that his 2 percent finder’s fee would be $8.6 million.
Naturally, CBS sources told TMZ that Salvador played zero role in setting up the fight.
If you’re familiar with all the ridiculous reasons the fight fell through over the years before finally coming together, you know it is highly unlikely that a Beverly Hills waiter was the difference in negotiations.
