Floyd Mayweather and John Gotti clashed in exhibition match in Mexico
Aged 47 Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. made his debut in Mexico City, in an exhibition on Saturday night at the iconic Arena Ciudad de México.
The fight was a rematch of a June 2023 exhibition between Mayweather and MMA fighter John Gotti III. Mayweather dominated Gotti during the eight two-minute rounds.
Showing off his accomplished style, Mayweather took it upon himself to neutralise the more than 10 kilos difference that Gotti had over him.
The contest was not without controversy, however. Floyd landed a harmless one-two from range, which landed around the back of Gotti’s head as he turned to avoid the right hand, to which the referee, rightly or wrongly, warned Mayweather for hitting the back of the head.
The Michigan man was not pleased with the official and ordered him out of the ring, so another referee took over officiating midway through the bout, in a bizarre turn of events.
Their first fight in June 2023 also courted controversy when the fight was ended and the gangster’s grandson sparked a mass brawl. Referee Kenny Bayless repeatedly warned Gotti and his corner team for their continuous trash talking through the fight, eventually disqualifying them in round six, causing Gotti to race past him and lunge for Floyd after being frustrated by him all fight long. One journalist described Gotti as “helpless” read more…
“For me it was an honour to be able to come here to perform in Mexico,” Floyd said at the end of the fight.
David “Rey” Picasso vs Azat Hovhannisyan
David “Rey” Picasso (29-0-1, 16 KOs) had to work overtime to defeat Armenian challenger, Azat “Crazy A” Hovhannisyan (21-5, 17 KOs), by unanimous decision to retain the WBC super bantamweight silver belt on Saturday at the Mexico City Arena.
It seemed that Picasso could end the fight the moment he stepped on the gas, as the first two rounds were much superior despite the Armenian’s change of guard.
However, in the third, Azat began to apply pressure and connected solidly but David clearly showed that he has a strong chin as he resisted the Armenian’s offensive.
At times, both fighters showed signs of fatigue. In the fifth round, a point was taken away from the Armenian for low blows.
Although the Armenian fought a good fight, there was no doubt that the winner was “King” Picasso, which made the Mexico City Arena cheer and applaud when he was declared the winner.
In this way, the #RingTelmexTelcel scholarship holder successfully defended his WBC super bantamweight silver crown.
Undercard Results
Also, former WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz (33-7-3, 25 KOs) returned from a two-year hiatus to fight eight two-minute rounds against Rodrigo Damian Coria (13-6, 2 KOs) in an exhibition bout.
18-year-old lightweight prospect Curmel Traymayne Moton (5-0, 4 KOs) needed just 55 seconds to knock out Victor Vasquez (5-3-1) in the first round.
