Floyd Mayweather eased past John Gotti III in their eight-round exhibition rematch from Mexico.
The first fight ended in a brawl, resulting in Gotti getting a sixth-month suspension. While those antics were not repeated, there was still some controversy. After a cautious first round, Mayweather switched the referee, Hector Afu, in round two after he warned him for punching at the back of the head.
“THIS IS LOOKING VERY WWE-ISH”
LMFAOOOOOOOOO#MayweatherGotti
— FADE (@FadeAwayMedia) August 25, 2024
Once the new referee came in, Mayweather exerted control. He consistently landed his jab, allowing him to counterpunch the much bigger Gotti. Gotti was on the ropes in round three, as Mayweather targeted the body, a similar tactic used in round four. Gotti did land an eye-catching left hook in the fifth, but he was falling short with his punches.
As Mayweather coasted, the fans booed in the last round after Gotti failed to live up to his pre-fight talk of fighting in a Mexican spirit. Mayweather hugged Julio Cesar Chavez in the ring but ruled out a fight, saying he may have a three-fight exhibition instead.
Floyd Mayweather embraces Julio César Chávez 🙌#MayweatherGotti pic.twitter.com/5Dz4KJEaIr
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) August 25, 2024
“Gotti is tough as nails. He’s my guy. But we had to put on a show for the people. And I want to thank Gotti for being a man of his word and we ran it back twice. He’s one of the legends I look up to and he paved the way for me. But the two getting into the ring to box? He’s older now, and if I do an exhibition with him it’s not going to look good for me. We just got a call about a three-exhibition deal and it’s a crazy number. …So, we don’t know,” Mayweather said