Fans baffled as Floyd Mayweather seems to fire referee mid-fight in John Gotti III rematch

Last night, a rematch between Floyd Mayweather and John Gotti III occurred. In this exhibition fight, neither boxer was announced as the winner. Fans were surprised when Mayweather had the referee removed from the match.

Posted: 09:10 BST, 25 August 2024 | Revised: 10:55 BST, 25 August 2024

The highly anticipated second match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and John Gotti III occurred on Saturday night.

Nevertheless, the fight did not live up to expectations. There were no exciting moments or significant hits from either boxer. Most of the rounds lasted two minutes, but there were no memorable punches landed.

However, during the match, there was a confusing moment that left fans puzzled. In the second round, Mayweather had the referee removed from the fight. This unusual decision came after Gotti claimed that Mayweather had struck him with a 'rabbit punch', which is a hit to the back of the head.

The video footage showed that Mayweather delivered a powerful hook that slipped past Gotti's defenses, but Mayweather was upset when the referee stopped the fight to give Gotti a chance to recover.

Supporters were worried for a brief moment that there might be a renewed altercation like the one from their previous bout when Gotti was penalized for holding excessively. However, Mayweather surprised many by asking the referee to step aside, leading to the unexpected entrance of a new third official into the ring.

Floyd Mayweather had a referee removed from his match with John Gotti III.

Mayweather was disgusted when the referee paid attention to Gotti's complaint about a punch to the back of the head.

Shortly after receiving the call, they replaced the referee and a new person stepped into the ring.

A person who is a fan of boxing posted on the social media site X saying, 'I've never witnessed this before. Mayweather got rid of the referee in the middle of the fight.'

Another person wrote, "I can't believe Mayweather dismissed the referee during the fight. It was so unexpected and amusing to see. That little smirk he gave at the end was priceless."

In the meantime, another person thought the moment was completely crazy.

Disorder reigned in the boxing ring as the referee reprimanded Floyd Mayweather for striking his opponent behind the head in the second round. Mayweather protested, gesturing for the referee to move aside. Eventually, a new referee had to take over for the rest of the match.

Some other supporters compared the moment to something you might witness in professional wrestling.

One fan commented: "Once again, another Mayweather vs Gotti fight, another embarrassing spectacle."

This time, the referee was dismissed and substituted in the middle of the fight. Hopefully, nobody spent money on this exaggerated WWE-like spectacle in a boxing ring.

Another individual chimed in, stating "Floyd Mayweather really showed the referee who's boss" along with a laughing emoji and the caption "WWE vibes."

After the fresh referee stepped into the ring, the battle carried on smoothly without any further interruptions.

Because the match was just for show, both fighters didn't seem interested in trying to impress the audience or show their superiority.

After the sixth round, the audience began to boo loudly during the fight because they were disappointed by the lack of excitement.

Mayweather, who ended his professional career with a perfect 50-0 record, was also met with jeers during his interview after the fight.