EXCLUSIVE: Floyd Mayweather cancels Walsall visit

The sporting superstar was set to come to the town as part of a tour of England, providing meet and greet sessions with sports fans.

Promoter Spencer Brown said he hoped to bring the multi-millionaire to Walsall Town Hall on November 3, which would have been a major coup for the town.

But last night, Mr Brown revealed talks with the 38-year-old's promoters Front-Line Promotions had broken down and he had been forced to pull the tour.

As part of the agreement, which has saw £25,000 handed over to the star's promoters, Mayweather tweeted to announce the tour.

He was also set to go to London, Leicester, Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow, Bolton, Paris and Belgium.

Each show was to cost the consortium bringing him over £100,000.

But a promised 'video drop', with Mayweather promoting the tour, never came. And after last-ditch talks on Monday with a 24-hour deadline given for the video, the show was pulled.

Mayweather recently announced his retirement unbeaten after 49 pro contests. He is currently on holiday in the French Polynesia.

Mr Brown, who represents Gold Star Promotions, said: "I spoke to them on Monday, told them if we didn't have the video in 24 hours we would pull the show.

"We are very disappointed. The whole process has proved very frustrating – we just didn't know who we were talking to."

It comes a year after Mr Brown was involved in another failed bid to bring Mayweather to the UK.

Despite the setback, Mr Brown said he will not give up on bringing over the superstar. He added: "We won't give up – we will go over to Vegas and hopefully bring him to the Midlands in the next 12 months."

Walsall Council leader Mike Bird said: "It's disappointing because any personality that comes to Walsall has a spend factor and when people come to see them they spend money in the town.

"It's not the end of the world because Walsall has shown it can host big-name events such as the Elton John concert at the Bescot Stadium but I feel for the people who might be out of pocket due to the knock-on effect of this cancellation."

Tony Wilson, who runs the Walsall-based West Midlands Boxing Academy, said: "He's too big for Walsall. I never thought he would come in the first place."