The Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. John Gotti III exhibition match in Mexico City on Saturday night was what you might have expected. The fight had eight, mostly uneventful two-minute rounds, with Mayweather dominating his inexperienced opponents en route to the victory.
There were no knockdowns or wow moments.
The most noteworthy moment happened in the second round when Mayweather had the referee ejected from the fight. The initial ref was getting a bit too involved in the action, especially regarding punches he felt landed on the back of the head.
Mayweather was disgusted with a reprimand, and it appeared that we might be headed for another bizarre situation akin to what happened after their first fight. Instead, Mayweather yelled for the referee to “move out the way,” and suddenly, the third man in the ring was replaced.
It appeared to everyone watching that Mayweather fired him on the spot.
Other current pros like Shakur Stevenson reacted to ejection of the referee:
A new referee finished the fight, but it had nothing to do with the flow or finish. Mayweather was satisfied to fire away at Gotti’s body with the occasional jab and uppercut.
None of his punches appeared to hurt Gotti, but the latter looked even more amateurish in the rematch than he did in the first fight. The crowd booed the fight pretty loudly from the sixth round on and even tried to drown Mayweather out during his post-fight interview.
After the fight, Mayweather seemed to dispel a rumor that he would face Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. in his next exhibition match. The Mexican icon was present, and he embraced Mayweather as the latter paid his respects.
If Chavez Sr. isn’t next for Mayweather, and it appears he’ll continue to fight in these exhibitions, who is next on the all-time greats list? It might be wise to look outside of boxing toward someone with a level of notoriety and some combat sports experience but limited time in the boxing ring.
Jake Paul has patterned his matchmaking after Mayweather, which has proven to be a money-making strategy. Mayweather has fought YouTubers in the past. Would he face another influencer like Cash Nasty, Duke Dennis, Troydan or perhaps even entertain a rematch with Conor McGregor?
Whatever Mayweather chooses to pursue, you can bet it’ll carry the potential for another strong payday.
On the undercard, Mayweather’s protege and top-notch boxing prospect Curmel Moton made quick work of Victor Vazquez. Moton scored the KO win in just 55 seconds of the first round.
Here is a look at his work:
Moton improved to 5-0 as a professional with four knockouts. He’s still only 18, so it is unclear how long it’ll take him to start facing tougher competition.
That said, there are some similarities to Gervonta Davis in Moton’s game because of his size and punching power. We probably won’t see him enter the main event scene for another three years, but Moton is one to watch.
