Floyd Mayweather Jr. fought an exhibition boxing match with John Gotti III over the weekend. And the result didn’t sit right with Fox Sports’ Skip Bayless.
Even if boxing fans weren’t aware of the exhibition fight before it started, they probably heard about the result thanks to the chaos that erupted. With Mayweather and Gotti seeming more interested in exchanging verbal jabs throughout the bout, referee Kenny Bayless eventually stopped the match after struggling to separate the fighters from trash talking in the sixth round. And that’s where things inside the ring quickly turned.
Gotti ducked around Bayless and went after Mayweather again, swinging at the retired fighter even though the match was already stopped and ruled a disqualification. As Mayweather and Gotti began exchanging punches again, both of their teams jumped inside the ring, sparking a brawl.
Following the fight, Gotti, whose late grandfather was the boss of the Gambino crime family, declared Mayweather an “enemy for life.” Mayweather later had his family threatened on social media after the brawl. Skip Bayless (no relation to Kenny), however, is not buying it, jumping on Twitter to allege the post-fight ruckus was all part of the show.
The Floyd-Gotti “brawl” after my man Kenny Bayless stopped the “fight” was obviously scripted and staged.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) June 12, 2023
“The Floyd-Gotti “brawl” after my man Kenny Bayless stopped the “fight” was obviously scripted and staged,” the Fox Sports host tweeted.
If anyone knows “scripted and staged” it’s the sports-talking Bayless, who regularly broadcasts fake outrage as entertainment. Bayless also knows about staged fights turning real, engaging in enough on-air blowups to drive his co-host Shannon Sharpe off his FS1 show.
Exhibition matches drawing more attention than most real fights is already a bad look for boxing. But going full-WWE with scripted endings and post-match drama would be embarrassing for the sport.
It’s not the first time Mayweather was accused of taking part in a fake brawl as part of an exhibition match, however. While promoting his 2021 exhibition bout with Logan Paul in 2021, Jake Paul snatched Mayweather’s hat. That sparked a brawl that very few fans believed was real.
