Floyd Mayweather has said he is taking legal action against organizers of a celebrity NBA game in Las Vegas to mark Pro Bowl weekend.

Mayweather, 45, posted a statement on Instagram on Saturday evening - when the game was schedule to take place - saying his name was being used without his permission.

Until then, Mayweather had been widely expected to participate in the game as a captain of one the teams - his role was even discussed on a FOX5 news segment previewing the game on Friday with some TikTokers who were also playing in the game.

One TikToker on the FOX5 segment even joked he'd been texting Mayweather and that they were going to wrestle a bear together after the game.

But Mayweather himself appeared to be unaware of any anticipated involvement.

He posted a statement on Instagram saying: 'I did not authorize the use of my name or likeness for the celebrity basketball game that is being advertised and therefore I will not be attending the basketball game.

'I apologize to any fans who planned on attending this event to see me. Since my name was used without my permission, I will be taking legal action on this matter.'

He also captioned the post by saying: 'People do what they want to do. There was never any confirmation.'

Mayweather was instead pictured at Flippers Roller Boogie Palace in Hollywood on Saturday night.

The game itself had a number of NFL stars competing such as Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins, Malcom Butler and Duron Harmon of the Las Vegas Raiders and Stefon Diggs of the Buffalo Bills.

Deebo Samuel of the 49ers and Derwin James Jr of the Los Angeles Chargers were also playing, while NBA icon Dennis Rodman was a coach for the game.

The NFL Pro Bowl itself is held on Sunday afternoon at the Allegiant Stadium.