Floyd Mayweather fires referee during John Gotti III rematch

When Floyd Mayweather first faced John Gotti III, the infamous mob boss’ grandson, the fight erupted in chaos after the referee stopped the fight. This led to a brawl as each fighters’ teams stormed the ring in response to Gotti’s anger. Tensions flared again within the rematch when Mayweather, unhappy with the referee’s decision, abruptly fired him and brought in a substitute mid-fight.

Reports that the exhibition match occurred on the Arena CDMX in Mexico City on August 24. Mayweather landed what seemed to be a legal right hook to Gotti’s head within the second round. However, referee Hector Afu intervened, stopping the fight and penalizing Mayweather for the illegal punch. The decision enraged Mayweather, who was seen shoving Afu’s arm and gesturing for him to step aside. When Mayweather continued to dispute the choice, he angrily shouted on the referee to maneuver aside.

As Mayweather paced the ring, shouting at his corner and the referee’s table, Afu eventually walked to the corner of the ring and left. A brand new referee stepped in after a couple of minutes, and the fighters reconvened in the center because the fight resumed under the direction of a brand new referee.

The boxing match continued and although there have been no judges, Mayweather had the perfect fight between the 2 fighters and the fight actually went all of the technique to the top.

The last time the 2 fighters met, referee Kenny Bayless stopped the fight within the sixth round, warning Gotti about his trash-talking. When the fight was over, Gotti became even angrier, and although the fight was already over, he continued to attack Mayweather after the bell sounded, which caused each teams’ corners to leap into motion and a brawl ensued.