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John Gotti III suspended for fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. after bout ended, igniting brawl

John Gotti III and Floyd Mayweather boxing in a ring as referee Kenny Bayless watches
John Gotti III, left, has been suspended for six months in Florida after continuing to throw punches at Floyd Mayweather Jr. after their exhibition boxing match was called Sunday at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Fla.
(MediaPunch / IPx via Associated Press)
By Chuck SchilkenStaff Writer 
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Those punches John Gotti III threw at Floyd Mayweather Jr. after Sunday’s exhibition boxing match was called are going to cost him.

Gotti won’t be allowed to fight in the state of Florida until next year after his antics ignited a brawl.

The Florida State Boxing Commission has suspended Gotti for six months, according to multiple media outlets, after the boxer and mixed martial arts fighter continued throwing punches after referee Kenny Bayless ended the bout at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Fla.

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The commission is part of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation and oversees professional boxing, kickboxing and MMA in the state. It did not immediately respond to inquiries from The Times.

SUNRISE FL - JUNE 11: Floyd Mayweather Vs John Gotti III at The FLA Live Arena on June 11

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A ref stopped the Mayweather-Gotti III bout. ‘That’s when the real fighting started’

John Gotti III didn’t stop fighting with Floyd Mayweather Jr. after the referee ended the match. Brawling among spectators also broke out.

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Bayless stopped the fight during the sixth round after repeated warnings to Gotti and Mayweather for using profanity against each other during the match. But Gotti went around the veteran referee and started throwing more punches at Mayweather.

The boxing legend initially attempted to block the punches before eventually throwing one of his own. The Florida State Boxing Commission told multiple media outlets that Mayweather will not be punished for his actions that night.

Members from both camps entered the ring and separated the fighters, but also took part in a lot of pushing and shoving of their own. Videos on social media appear to show fistfights breaking out in other parts of the arena.

Bakersfield, CA, Wednesday, March 29, 2023 - Gonzalo Montellano, 65, is a lightweight with a record of 35-3-2 with 20 knockouts. He is owed $20,000 from the Boxing Pension Fund. Montellano trained and boxed in Los Angeles as a teenager, where he delivered Rolls Royce's to customers of his manager Vic Weiss. He said his boxing career got off to a rough start when Weiss was found dead, shot twice in the head and left in the truck of his red and white Roll Royce. He said others would promise him the world and leave him hanging. By the time he retired from boxing, he said he could barely stand the sport. "I don't watch it very much. You're good until you get in the top 10 and then it's all politics. That saying 'it's not what you know, it's who you know' is true for boxing. After boxing, he turned to drinking and gained 130 pounds, he said. He's lost much of that and now trains boxers in his garage. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

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Boxers contacted by The Times said they were unaware that California has a 40-year-old pension program or that they are its beneficiaries.

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Chuck Schilken

Chuck Schilken is a sports reporter on the Fast Break team. He spent more than 18 years with the Los Angeles Times’ Sports Department in a variety of roles. Before joining The Times, he worked for more than a decade as a sports reporter and editor at newspapers in Virginia and Maryland.

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