John Gotti III says he didn’t care if he never saw Floyd Mayweather ever again.
But when the rematch was presented, it was an easy yes.
The Mayweather vs. Gotti 1 exhibition bout in June 2023 ended in controversy and pandemonium. Gotti was disqualified in Round 6 for frequent fouls – and that’s when a big in-ring melee broke out between the teams.
“As a fighter, emotions and tensions are running high,” Gotti recently told MMA Junkie. “The fight became very personal very early. Floyd became his verbal assault, and physical, right from the opening bell. I wasn’t going to lay down and show my belly for anybody. If I had submitted, I think Kenny Bayless would’ve been OK with it. But I’m not going to take anybody’s stuff. When I started verbally attacking him back, it became a problem. I think the hypocrisy there is a little confusing to me.”
What happened, happened. Eventually, heads cooled, at least enough to revisit doing business with one another. Mayweather, 47, and Gotti, 31, agreed to rematch, but it took over a year to get a finalized date on the books.
The exhibition rematch takes place Saturday at Arena CDMX in Mexico City. While Gotti doesn’t take what Mayweather yapped in the ring as anything beyond gamesmanship, there is unfinished business.
“The fight was unfinished. I think the fight was just getting good to be honest. The fifth and sixth rounds were the most interesting rounds of the fight. I was perplexed why they stopped the fight, to be honest with you. … The fight was just getting interesting. I was starting to feel good and I was getting settled in. Floyd punched himself out, whether he liked it or not. His output was almost gone at that point. He was throwing just jabs in the fifth and sixth round. He thought he was going to come in there and knock me out. He thought I was going to lay down and he thought wrong.”
Gotti wishes the Mayweather fight was professional and not exhibition. But at 50-0, Mayweather seems content not risking the zero during the twilight of his career, Exhibition or not, Gotti thinks a win over Mayweather would be historic.
“People are still going to watch the fight,” Gotti said. “They’re still going to judge the rounds of the fight. If I go in there and win some rounds on him and look good doing it on him convincingly, he’ll be leaving an impression on people. So it’s important. Floyd definitely treats it like a pro fight. I’ve never seen Floyd more determined and aggressive in any fight in his entire career.”
The grandson of the infamous gangster who sported the same name, he first appeared on the combat sports radar in MMA. After five straight wins to kick off his pro career, Gotti lost for the first time in October 2020. He then pivoted to pro boxing, where he went 2-0.
Saturday’s match will tell Gotti which career path he should go down.
“I think this fight is going to be very telling of my future,” Gotti said. “I’m going to wait and see how this fight plays out. If all goes well, I’m sure proper opportunities will come up in boxing. I’m definitely open to coming back to MMA at some point. I’m not ever going to leave on a loss. I’ll at least try to come back to MMA and finish my career on a win. My last fight didn’t go as planned. This came into our hands, the Floyd Mayweather fight. So listen, we take it one fight at a time.”
