Three days after the tragic death of his former partner Josie Harris, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has broken his silence with a heartbreaking message on March 13. “My angel,” the boxing champion wrote, alongside a throwback photo of Floyd and Josie with their arms wrapped around one another. The retired boxing star kept his message brief, and turned off the comments section of the Instagram post. He proceeded to share even more nostalgic photos: Josie standing by Floyd’s side at a podium, Josie smiling and waving, Floyd and Josie again huddled close, and Josie posing with their sons Koraun Mayweather, 20, and Zion Shamaree Mayweather, 18, when the brothers were still small. Throughout the posts, he called Josie his “heart,” “love,” “rock” and “family.”
Josie, the mother of three of Floyd’s four children, was discovered dead in a car parked in Valencia, CA on March 10, which the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner confirmed on March 11. The circumstances of her death are not known at this time. She was only 40 years old. Josie’s rep confirmed the devastating news to HollywoodLife on March 11, telling us that “unfortunately, the report is true. We will truly miss Josie.”
The actress and boxing champion were together for 15 years, from roughly 1995 to 2010. They had three beautiful children together: sons Kouran and Zion, and daughter Jirah Mayweather, 15. Their relationship was tumultuous, to say the least. Floyd was convicted of domestic violence and sentenced to two months in prison following a September 2010 fight with Josie. Floyd was found guilty of entering Josie’s Las Vegas home as she slept on the sofa, dragged her onto the floor by her hair, and beat her in front of their children. Their eldest son, Koraun, alerted a security guard, who called the police. Josie had accused Floyd of abuse on six separate occasions.
She also filed a defamation lawsuit against the sports star in 2015, claiming that he had lied about her during a Yahoo News interview with Katie Couric. Floyd had alleged that Josie was on drugs during the incident. “Mayweather knowingly and maliciously lied about his beating of Harris, disclaiming any responsibility for the attack and Harris’s resulting serious injuries. Instead, Mayweather pointed his finger at Harris, labeling her as a drug-abuser and an aggressor who the world-class boxer had to ‘restrain,'” the lawsuit read. Josie’s lawsuit also cited “intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.”
Josie and Floyd’s children have already broken their silence, who all shared tributes to their respective Instagram accounts on March 11.