John Gotti III has been slapped with a six-month ban by the Florida State Athletic Commission for his part in a post-fight brawl with Floyd Mayweather, who has escaped any form of penalty. Former boxing world champion Mayweather faced Gotti, the grandson of infamous New York crime boss John Gotti, in an exhibition bout, but the ugly encounter soon descended into chaos, both inside and outside the ring.
The fight, which took place at Florida’s FLA Live Arena on Sunday, was brought to a conclusion in the sixth road after Gotti was disqualified by referee Kenny Bayliss for holding and persistently trash-talking his opponent.
But MMA fighter Gotti continued to swing punches at Mayweather after the bell before the ring quickly became flooded with members of both camps as a mass brawl unfolded. The chaos eventually spread to the stands where pockets of fights broke out between spectators. There were also reportedly scuffles backstage.
The arena had to be cleared by police, who threatened charges against fans who didn’t leave immediately.
A statement released read: “The DBPR Florida Athletic Commission took immediate action the evening of Sunday, June 11, and suspended John Gotti III for six months.”
Mayweather, who appears to have avoided any punishment from the Florida authorities, has been on an exhibition tour around the world since retiring from professional boxing in 2017.
Speaking about the farcical scenes that followed his duel with Gotti, the former five-weight world champion said: “Man, that s*** was crazy”.
Gotti did not let things rest with Mayweather after the contest, taking to Instagram and writing: “You my enemy for life. Bum never put me down or stopped me it was a DQ for no reason.”
Gotti’s sister Nicolette also launched a verbal attack on the social media platform, promising to get revenge on Mayweather by “coming for his daughter”.
Mayweather’s final professional bout was against UFC star Conor McGregor, whom he defeated via technical knockout in 10 rounds, in what was dubbed ‘The Money Fight’.
Gotti called on McGregor for “back-up” on Twitter after his bust-up with Mayweather and the former two-weight UFC champion responded in a now-deleted Tweet that read: “I back the Gottis. The war is on.”
‘The Notorious’ is currently working on his long-awaited return to UFC. The Irishman hasn’t fought in the Octogen since breaking his leg against Dustin Poirer in their trilogy fight at UFC 264 in 2021.
But after confirming that he was rejoining UFC’s anti-doping programme, McGregor is now expected to announce a comeback fight against former Bellator lightweight champion and fellow ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ coach Michael Chandler before the end of the year.