“Undefeated” Floyd Mayweather asked to change the referee after being warned for hitting the back of his opponent’s head in his rematch with John Gotti III.
According to British newspaper Sportmail, the fight at the Mexico City Arena on August 24th did not have any knockdowns or eye-catching accurate strikes. In fact, most of the two-minute rounds passed without any impressive punches.
The moment that caught the attention of fans was not related to the technical aspect. In the second round, Gotti complained that Mayweather had committed a foul, hitting him in the back of the head. The referee – who was wearing a white shirt – warned Mayweather and stopped the fight to give Gotti time to rest and recover.
Mayweather reacted violently and even said “move aside” when the referee tried to stop the two fighters. Then, another referee wearing a blue shirt entered the ring to replace the referee who had just warned Mayweather.
Under the new referee, the fight continued without further incident. Due to the lack of a knockout, the exhibition bout ended in a non-scored bout. From the sixth round, fans at the Mexico City Arena booed heavily because the fight did not have many impressive situations. Mayweather was also booed during his post-fight interview.
This is Mayweather’s eighth post-retirement exhibition fight and his second against John Gotti III. In June 2023, the fight between the two boxers in Florida was stopped due to a fierce argument and argument in the ring. Therefore, the fight was ruled a no contest.
Before that, Mayweather won by knockout against Deji Olatunji, Mikuru Asakura, Tenshin Nasukawa and had three non-point fights with Aaron Chalmers, Don Moore and Logan Paul. In which, Mayweather compared the fight with Logan Paul to a bank robbery, when this fight helped him pocket 100 million USD.
The American boxer is said to have pocketed $50 million for his fight with Don Moore at Yas Island in Dubai, $25 million for each fight with Asakura, Deji and John Gotti III, $22 million for his fight with Nasukawa and $20 million for his fight with Chalmers. According to Inside Sport, the “Undefeated” even received $1 million just for appearing at press conferences and answering calls about the fight.
Mayweather is one of the greatest boxers of all time, having won five different weight classes. Announcing his retirement in 2015, Mayweather returned in August 2017 to fight Conor McGregor and reach the 50-fight winning streak in his professional career. Before that, he won a bronze medal in the featherweight division at the 1996 Olympics, three Golden Gloves titles and won the national amateur boxing championship as an amateur.
The American boxer also participated in four of the five most expensive fights in history, respectively against Oscar De La Hoya, Canelo Alvarez, Manny Pacquiao and Conor McGregor. For the fight against Pacquiao alone, Mayweather is said to have pocketed $300 million. According to Forbes, Mayweather is the only boxer in history to earn more than $1 billion in fight fees.