Floyd Mayweather refused to take to the scales after his opponent for this weekend's exhibition John Gotti III tipped the scales considerably heavier.
Gotti III, whose grandfather is the famed leader of the Gambino crime family, weighed in at 181lb, which would put him at a whopping 25lb heavier than the boxer's career-highest of 156lb. Mayweather was announced as making no weigh-in at the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach on a searing hot afternoon shortly after his opponent hit the scales.
Mayweather was in fine form on the microphone, however, reminiscing over his Olympic team days shared with host Antonio Tarver and declaring that he had assisted over 400 local children in various charitable endeavours throughout the week. But things took a turn when he joked that he had already faced Arturo Gatti, which clearly irked the stoic New Yorker.
"I don't have to tell people what I can do in the ring," Mayweather bragged. "Any time you go to the Olympics and face the best, or go in there with guys against the odds like Manny Pacquiao and Canelo, I fought Gatti before but it was Arturo Gatti he brought the thunder, and I'm sure this one will bring the thunder."
"There's only one Gotti," the fighter told fans after Mayweather's quip about the two similar-sounding names. "You never fought no Gotti." Fans in the crowd then began to chant for the New Yorker, which angered the former champion who warned that the fight wouldn't be going the distance.
"When we get in the ring it's up to the two fighters," he explained. "It has nothing to do with the crowd, they can scream, they can holler, they can shout but this is what I do. At the end of the day I don't have to brag I don't have to pose I don't have to tell you what I can do.
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"The world knows what I can do, he's going to have show the world what he can do. He has to show the world what he can do! A lot of times what's understood don't have to be talked about. I don't have to come out here and say that my record speaks for itself. You don't become world champion for 20 years straight not being able to fight.
"My thing is this, a lot of fighters always talk about 'I can give it, I can give it, I can give it. But you have to be able to take it also. One thing about me is I can give it and I can take it but for me to last this long in the sport it's obvious I'm on the road of more so giving it than taking it.
"So I want them to keep that same energy tomorrow if it makes it to the final bell. I want the same ones that are screaming to come to the final press conference tomorrow night!"
