Boxing fans around the world are excited as Floyd Mayweather is set to make his return to the ring in an exhibition bout.
Mayweather’s promotions recently announced that he will face MMA combatant John Gotti III in an upcoming match scheduled for June 11 at the FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida. The press release states that an official announcement will be made on Thursday.
Since his retirement following his TKO victory over Conor McGregor in 2017, Floyd Mayweather (50-0) has been participating in exhibition matches. During his professional career, Mayweather won 15 major world championships from super featherweight to light middleweight. He had notable wins over Manny Pacquiao, Oscar De La Hoya, Canelo Alvarez, and Ricky Hatton, among others.
Mayweather has competed in six exhibition matches since 2018, starting with a TKO victory over Tenshin Nasukawa in RIZIN. In 2021, he boxed twice against Logan Paul and Don Moore. He then faced Mikuru Asakura in RIZIN and YouTuber Deji in 2022.
Earlier this year in February, Mayweather fought MMA competitor Aaron Chalmers in England. Mayweather calls these exhibition bouts ‘legalized bank robberies’ as he gets paid a substantial amount to compete against non-boxers.
Before his match against Logan Paul, Mayweather stated: “My nickname is ‘Money’ for a reason. I worked extremely hard for years and years to get to a certain level. A level where we can start calling everything an event. I believe in working smarter, not harder. So if it’s something easy like (the Paul bout), a legalized bank robbery, I gotta do it. I have to do it.”
Mayweather’s upcoming opponent John Gotti III is the grandson of the famous mob boss John Gotti. His grandfather was the leader of what was referred to be America’s most powerful criminal organisation.
Gotti III has a record of 5-1 in professional MMA matches, and his most recent defeat was by decision to Nick Alley at CES 61 in 2020. He has won two boxing matches since then, defeating Albert Tulley through decision and knocking out Alex Citrowske.