Floyd Mayweather kicks referee mid-fight and plays with John Gotti III in rematch

Floyd Mayweather is currently filling his bank account but not doing much for his legacy.

The 47-year-old boxer showed some of the skills that have made him one of the best fighters of his generation in a one-sided performance against an underdog John Gotti III in their rematch Saturday night in Mexico. Mayweather played in almost every exchange with Gotti, going after his bigger opponent but never really getting a series of strikes together that could have decided the fight.

Since the duel was an exhibition fight, there was no winner, but if the scorecards had been correct, Mayweather would have won without conceding a goal.

“Gotti is tough,” Mayweather said after the fight. “We had to put on a show for the people. I want to thank Gotti for keeping his word. We repeated it twice.”

In their first encounter, Mayweather came out guns drawn, attempting to knock out the grandson of notorious mob boss John Gotti, but the fight ended in chaos after Gotti was disqualified and then attacked Mayweather. The ring quickly filled with entourages of both fighters as security attempted to intervene.

It looked like that scene might repeat itself on Saturday when the referee stopped the action in the second round to caution Mayweather for punches to the back of the head. In Mayweather's defense, Gotti basically just lowered his head during every exchange in which Mayweather threw a combination, so the punches naturally landed in an awkward spot.

Gotti's trainers actually came into the ring to cool him down and it looked like chaos was about to break out again, but this time cooler heads prevailed. Suddenly a new referee appeared in the ring and took command in one of the most bizarre moments in recent combat sports history.

The rest of the fight was largely the same, with Mayweather hitting three- and four-punch combinations on Gotti, then ducking away before taking any damage himself. Gotti was also largely inactive, barely throwing anything and instead just trying to avoid Mayweather's hardest punches so he could last all eight rounds.

There were a few fleeting moments where it looked like Mayweather was adding more power to his punches, but then he eased up and let Gotti get away. Even when Gotti managed to back Mayweather into a corner or against the ropes, he couldn't build much offensive power before the former multi-division champion was able to break free.

Every now and then, Mayweather would let go of the speed and precision that had helped him to a perfect 50-0 record before his retirement, but then Mayweather would inevitably take his foot off the gas and let Gotti back into the fight just long enough to get him ready for another punch combination.

There was also a problem with the clock early in the fight, with some rounds going well over the two-minute limit, but that didn't matter in the end. The final bell rang and Mayweather hugged Gotti as the fighters seemingly put aside the animosity between them.

Following the exhibition bout, Mayweather faced another icon of the sport when Julio Cesar Chavez joined him in the ring after calling the card as part of the broadcast team. There were rumors that Chavez might challenge Mayweather to a fight after recently returning for an exhibition bout himself.

Although Mayweather has faced a long list of social influencers and MMA fighters over the course of his exhibition matches, he apparently draws the line when fighting a boxer who, at 62, is almost retired.

“An incredible fighter,” Mayweather said of Chavez. “One of the best fighters. He beat my Uncle Roger twice. I had to take my hat off to this legend.”

“He's older now and if I do an exhibition fight with him, it won't look good for me. He's one of the legends I look up to. He paved the way for me and he does so much for boxing.”

A fight against Chavez may be off the table, but it's hard to imagine Mayweather not continuing to make money from these exhibition fights, especially given the packed arena in Mexico. There's still interest in seeing him pull on the gloves, even if the results never really matter.