Floyd Mayweather Jr. confirms not witnessing the death of Tupac Shakur

Floyd Mayweather Jr. has clarified that he did not witness the shooting of Tupac Shakur despite residing in the area of the tragedy during the beginning stages of his boxing career.

The undefeated boxer was preparing for his professional debut in September 1996 following a controversial judging decision at the Atlanta Olympics that cost him a medal. During that period, Mayweather lived in Las Vegas, specifically near the corner of Flamingo Boulevard and Koval Lane, where the shooting occurred.

Mayweather Jr. has vehemently maintained that he had no firsthand knowledge of the rapper’s tragic death. The identity of Tupac’s shooter remains unknown, but the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department recently reopened the investigation after decades of inconclusive searches.

On July 17, authorities executed a search warrant concerning the case at a one-story home in Henderson, Nevada.

Mayweather has turned to social media to defend himself from allegations linking him to the incident. In a long Instagram statement, he wrote: “In 1996, when Tupac Shakur was killed, I lived in the Meridian Apartments located on Flamingo and Koval Ln, which just so happens to be the area where Tupac was shot.

“I have never claimed to have witnessed the shooting. All these false accusations arise from my sharing the location of the shooting with John Singleton due to my familiarity with the area, having lived there. However, this does not mean I witnessed Tupac’s shooting.

“John Singleton was making a documentary or movie about Tupac, so he reached out to me, asking for the location of Flamingo and Koval Ln. John was my friend, so I willingly showed him this location. The spot where Tupac was shot is public knowledge, and my proximity to it was purely coincidental. I did not witness Tupac Shakur’s death.”

The death of Shakur is heavily linked to the sport of boxing. He was shot on Sept. 7, 1996, when Mike Tyson won the WBA heavyweight championship from Bruce Seldon. The fight occurred at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada, which was 26 minutes away from where Shakur was shot in Las Vegas.

Shakur’s bodyguards were involved in a fight with a man, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, around 8:30 p.m. PT on the night of the shooting. Anderson is considered the prime suspect in his murder.

From there, Skakur was presumed to head to Club 662 to celebrate Tyson’s first-round knockout title win. However, he was shot in as the passenger in a car when a white Cadillac Sedan pulled up on the passenger side and rapidly fired into the vehicle. The rapper was shot four times and taken to the hospital, where he was put on life support.

Shakur passed away on Sept. 13, 1996, just six days after he was shot. The official cause of death was listed as respiratory failure and cardiopulmonary arrest associated with gunshot wounds.