Floyd Mayweather literally fired a referee in the middle of his exhibition boxing bout with John Gotti III.
On Saturday night, the legendary pugilist made his return to the ring for a rematch with the former mixed martial artist after their June 2023 meeting ended with a disqualification immediately followed by an all-out brawl between the two corners.
Mayweather and Gotti III went a full eight rounds this time around, and while the bout was fairly uneventful, there was a rather interesting moment in the second where ‘Money’ showed the world just how much power he has in the boxing business.
Near the halfway point of the round, Mayweather landed a shot that prompted referee Hector Afu to step in and warn ‘Money’ for hitting the back of his opponent’s head. Mayweather disagreed with the call and the bout came to a crashing halt with both fighters jawing at one another from their respective corners.
As tensions continued to grow, Afu exited the ring at the insistence of Mayweather and was replaced by Mexican official Alfredo Uruzquieta.
Mayweather swapped the referee 🤣#FloydMayweather #MayweatherGotti pic.twitter.com/HzGHcBmcUR
— 𝐒 𝐓 𝐈 𝐋 𝐋 (@0xStill) August 25, 2024
Did Floyd fire this ref mid-fight?!#MayweatherGotti pic.twitter.com/1caKT0lDw9
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) August 25, 2024
It’s certainly not the first time that the Panamanian official has been embroiled in controversy. He famously deducted points from both Tommy Fury and Jake Paul during their February 2023 clash. Fury went on to win the fight via split decision.
Fans Shred ‘Circus’ Fight Between Floyd Mayweather and John Gotti III
Needless to say, fans were not thrilled with the situation, with many of them on X (formerly Twitter) comparing the mid-fight referee switch to something they’d expect to see in WWE—not a legitimate sport.
“Is this boxing or WWE?”
“This fight is comedy.”
“This was hilarious. NEW ROUND, NEW REF. I lost it.”
“Sh*t turned into WWE.”
“Really goes a long way to show the legitimacy of the fight and the sh*t you’re selling on PPV when trainers can just enter the ring mid round and Floyd can decide to sack the referee.”
Other fans were frustrated by the fight as a whole, calling it nothing more than an overpriced “circus” between two fighters “playing pattycake with each other” for eight rounds.
“The only tension I saw was between the fans and the weak fighters who were throwing the soft punches all fight… they were playing pattycake with each other.”
“People paid to watch this….Circus.”
“What a joke of a boxing match.”
“I can’t believe people paid to watch this absolute garbage.”
“The most boring fight I’ve ever seen in boxing.”
Check out “highlights” from Mayweather vs. Gotti 2 below:
