Chaos as Floyd Mayweather's latest exhibition fight against John Gotti III sparks a mass brawl
Floyd Mayweather's exhibition bout descended into chaos on Sunday night as his opponent John Gotti III sparked a mass brawl by continuing to throw punches after the referee had called it off.
Mayweather's professional career ended in 2017 when he took his record to 50-0 with a TKO win over Conor McGregor, but the 46-year-old has since taken part in a series of high-profile exhibition bouts in the years since.
The most recent of which took place in Florida on Sunday night, but it turned into more of a WWE Royal Rumble than a boxing match when the arena descended into violence midway through the sixth round.
In the early stages of the fight, Mayweather had made light work of his opponent Gotti III – who is the grandson of infamous mob boss from the Gambino crime family.
He continuously mocked him and landed a flurry of blows, with the 30-year-old giving little back, even being described by one journalist as 'helpless'.
Between rounds, the referee had spoken to Gotti III's corner in a bid to quell their trash talk, and then eventually – midway through the sixth – the official then called a halt to the bout, handing Mayweather the victory.
Unfortunately for the man in the middle, that sparked an almighty ruckus, with Gotti III initially breaking past referee Kenny Bayless to continue swinging punches at Mayweather.
The boxing legend backed up to the ropes and initially blocked and threw some fists back at his opponent, appearing to catch Gotti III on the top of the head with a left hook that forced him stumbling back across the ring. At this point, members of both teams climbed into the ring and a mass brawl occurred.
Mayweather then went and sat atop the ropes to take in the scene as close to 50 people pushed and shoved their way around.
The fighting was not just restricted to the ring either, with a number of scraps breaking out around the arena.
Puerto Rican reality TV personality Joseline Hernandez, also known as 'The Puerto Rican Princess', was filmed putting another woman into a headlock.
She eventually released the pressure after keeping her in the headlock for a lengthy period, before continuing to argue with the other woman.
Meanwhile, another fight was caught on camera between two men swinging punches at each other, with another man then getting involved and aiming a knee and more punches at one of them.
Undisputed middleweight champion Claressa Shields was at ringside and filmed some of the chaos ensuing in the ring.
Panning around to the brawl taking place, she exclaimed: 'what the f***, man!' as punches started flying between Mayweather and Gotti III's teams.
Shortly after the brawl eventually died down, Gotti III's sister Nicolette posted a statement on Instagram threatening Mayweather's daughter as she made it clear that the feud between the boxing superstar and her brother is not over.
'@floydmayweather your daughter was ran through by a animal with 12 different baby mamas – your little circus animal – you're all a pack of zoo animals… I swear on my kids I'm coming for your daughter it may be 2 years 3 years from now but I'm coming c***,' she wrote.
Mayweather has been involved in a series of exhibition bouts over the past five years, which has included seeing him face YouTube stars Logan Paul and Deji.
Logan, the brother of Jake Paul, who is also trying to make a name for himself in boxing, did better than many expected in their 2021 meeting and has claimed on multiple occasions since that he won the bout even though it wasn't officially scored.
The fact that there were no judges highlights how the exhibition fights have not tended to be taken too seriously, and Mayweather appeared to be having fun on Sunday night as well.
But the atmosphere quickly turned when Bayless stopped the contest, leading to very ugly scenes both in and outside the squared circle.