From boxing’s biggest ever PPV star to a desperate sideshow: Floyd Mayweather’s farcical post-retirement career has led to massive brawls in and out of the ring and tickets being flogged for £5 to fill a nearly empty O2 Arena
- Floyd Mayweather took part in his seventh exhibition game on Saturday night
- A mass brawl broke out after his opponent John Gotti III attacked TBE after the fight
- What does Mayweather’s post-retirement career mean for his overall legacy?
Floyd Mayweather’s final fight after retirement erupted into chaos on Saturday night when his opponent John Gotti III, grandson of notorious mobster John Gotti, sparked a massive brawl in the ring after their fight was called off under controversial circumstances.
Referee Kenny Bayless called an end to the bout in the sixth round due to excessive holding and nonsense from the pair.
Angered by the decision, Gotti III vented his frustrations by attacking Mayweather after Bayless interfered, as dozens rushed to the ring to intervene.
These final farcical scenes follow a series of unnecessary exhibitions by Mayweather that only serve to damage the legacy of one of the greatest boxers of all time.
When Mayweather chose to have his 50th and final professional fight against UFC star Conor McGregor in 2017, the boxing world was met with disapproval.
Floyd Mayweather had his seventh fight after retirement against John Gotti III on Saturday
A mass brawl broke out in the ring after Gotti III waved at Mayweather after the fight was stopped
Mayweather vs Logan Paul sold one million PPVs on Showtime in the United States
But it would pale in comparison to what was to come next.
Just 16 months later, Mayweather would return to the ring to face kickboxing ace Tenshin Nasukawa in an exhibition match in Japan.
The undefeated youngster put up little resistance when he was eliminated in the opening round.
And for a while that seemed to be the end. But unfortunately it wasn’t.
In June 2021, Mayweather’s career hit rock bottom when he took on YouTuber Logan Paul in another exhibition farce.
Paul, who outweighed the boxing legend by nearly 40 pounds, spent the entire eight rounds holding on for life as he survived to hear the final bell.
To both men’s credit, however, there was at least a modicum of intrigue surrounding the match, as it raked in a million pay-per-views on Showtime in the United States alone.
However, Mayweather’s ongoing practice fights against Don Moore, Mikuru Asakura, Deji Olatunji, Aaron Chalmers and Gotti flopped spectacularly at the box office – at least according to estimates, as no official numbers have been posted for any of the aforementioned bouts.
Mayweather ended his professional career in 2017 with a win over Conor McGregor
His most recent exhibition stints have not gone so well commercially, especially his penultimate match with Aaron Chalmers
Fans seem to have grown tired of Mayweather’s insistence on beating a dead horse and that was evident in his penultimate fight with ex-Geordie Shore cast member Aaron Chalmers.
London’s O2 Arena was almost completely empty that night as organizers desperately slashed ticket prices to just £5 in a bid to fill the 20,000 seats.
But that didn’t seem like a good indicator for Mayweather to hang up his gloves for good and so the fans were subjected to another nasty game against Gotti this weekend.