Boxing great Floyd Mayweather Jr. fought John Gotti III in an exhibition match on Saturday night in Mexico City. The match went exactly as many expected, and just like the first fight, the great boxer was simply the better fighter. Thankfully, the match did not end in a brawl like their June 2023 encounter. Despite Mayweather’s clear dominance, no winner was declared due to the bout being an exhibition match.
Mayweather was careful not to give Gotti the opportunity to do any effective work, instead relying heavily on straight jabs followed by straight right hands to control the action. As the rounds wore on, Gotti became visibly frustrated with Mayweather’s usual economical and efficient approach to the “sweet science.”
Since the bout was an exhibition, with eight two-minute rounds, it was unlikely to produce any significant result. This has been the approach in exhibition bouts since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, with Mayweather only performing his best in bouts with Japanese kickboxers in bouts that were scheduled to be announced at the end.
As was the case in his exhibition bouts with the likes of Logan Paul, Mayweather was content to go into the fight on schedule with the clear advantage over both men in the ring. At the end of the eighth round, no winner was declared.
Mayweather and Gotti embraced each other after the fight, in stark contrast to the brawl that followed their first fight.
During his illustrious career, Mayweather has had many high-profile bouts with Mexican stars. After holding an exhibition match on hostile ground, Mayweather was grateful to the fans.
“Mexico City, thank you for coming,” Mayweather said.
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