John Gotti III has played down his rivalry with Floyd Mayweather despite previously labelling the boxing legend his "enemy for life".
The grandson of mob boss John Gotti sparked a brawl with Mayweather after they met in an exhibition fight earlier this month. Gotti was disqualified by referee Kenny Bayless in the sixth round but that didn't stop him from continuing to wing punches at the former five-weight world champion, which led to chaos ensuing between the two teams.
Gotti wrote to Mayweather after the fight: "Punk b****, you my enemy for life. [Conor McGregor], we need back up. Bum never put me down or stopped me it was a DQ for no reason." Gotti has now backtracked on his comments in the hope of getting a rematch against Mayweather, insisting the two parties are in talks for a second meeting.
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“It got diffused. We’re good. We’ve been speaking. My father’s been in touch with their team, and there’s no bad blood here. It’s business. We did what we had to do, and we squash it and move on," Gotti said on The MMA Hour. “We’re in talks right now, actually, to do something. We’ll see where it goes.
“From what I understood, after the fight, it was the most Googled thing in the whole world. Floyd’s a businessman. Floyd wants to capitalise on that. He wants to make money. If they want to do it again, I’m here, and I promise you this time, I’m going to come out guns blazing as soon as that bell rings and we’re going to fight now.”
Gotti has suggested a rematch should take place in New York, the city his grandfather once ran a notorious mob in the 1980s. Despite insisting there is no bad blood between the two teams, Gotti plans to approach a second fight differently to the first as he vowed to bring war against Mayweather.
“I’m going into the next fight and it’s personal,” Gotti added. “Now we’re going to fight and I’m going to take it to him every second of the round. Going into the first fight, I did have that admiration for Floyd and that love and respect. It’s different now. When you cross certain lines with the talking, now it becomes personal for me. Floyd didn’t have to go there. Neither did I. It became personal for both of us. Now, it’s war between me and Floyd.”
