American Legion Post 128 in Teaneck is among several North Jersey bars and social clubs facing federal lawsuits from a California pay-per-view boxing promoter seeking $170,000 in damages because they allegedly pirated a pay-per-view boxing match two years ago.

Floyd Mayweather complaining to the referee during his Sept. 13, 2014, title fight against Marcos Maidana.

California-based J&J Sports Productions, which had live television distribution rights two years ago to the World Boxing Council welterweight championship bout between Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Marcos Renee Maidana, filed the lawsuit in federal court in Newark.

“[Post 128’s] unlawful exhibition of the program violated [J&J’s] rights as the exclusive commercial distributor, and “wrongfully converted” [J&J’s property] to its own use and benefit,” J&J said in the complaint filed three weeks ago.

“We’re talking about 10 barstools,” said Dave Boesch, the veterans’ group’s volunteer finance officer, who is puzzled by the lawsuit. Mayweather won the bout by a unanimous decision in the rematch of a May 2014 fight, which Mayweather won in a split decision.

“We didn’t make a profit because we did not charge anyone to see the fight,” said Boesch who said he had never heard of J&J Sports Productions until he received a call recently from a reporter asking about the lawsuit.

Boesch also said that in September 2014, when the fight took place, he wrote a check for $64.95 to Post 128’s service provider Optimum, a payment which he believed then, and still believes, covers the group’s obligation in full.

J&J sells rights to commercial enterprises, including hotels, bars, casinos and other establishments.

For clubs that hold fewer than 100 customers fees range, depending on the fight, from about $600 to more than $3,000, with Mayweather fights at the upper end of the range.

The distributor has filed more than 60 federal television piracy cases in the past 10 years in this state alone, including 10 cases filed in the past five months related to the Sept. 13, 2014 Mayweather-Maidana bout. As of Wednesday all of those cases were still pending.

In addition to American Legion Post 128, the New Jersey defendants named in separate lawsuits over allegedly unlawful showings of the Mayweather-Maidana fight include Rincon Social Club Corp. in Passaic, Passaic City Riders Motorcycle Club, Botany Village Bar & Grill in Clifton, Jay Aldo’s Bar in Clifton Evolution Beauty Salon in Plainfield, Baru Lounge in Newark, Pal Inasal Resto Grill in Jersey City, JQ Lounge in Hackettstown, and Just Us Turkeys in Piscataway. All the suits seek $170,000 in damages.

“We don’t comment on pending litigation,” Bill Jeffery, one of the New Jersey lawyers who is handling the cases for J&J, said Wednesday.

Post 128 does not have enough money to retain a lawyer, said Boesch, who was also unsure Wednesday whether the organization had liability insurance that could cover potential legal expenses.

Boesch said he would send an email to the J&J lawyer handling his case, and explain that Post 128 did not make any money on the fight, and, as far as he knows the showing was properly paid for.

He hopes that will persuade J&J to drop the lawsuit.

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