Floyd Mayweather to take on John Gotti III in latest ‘legalised bank robbery’, but real crime could be buying his PPV

Floyd Mayweather’s long reign as boxing’s pay-per-view king has been remarkable – not least because it has run well beyond his official retirement – but we have finally reached the end.

In early June, Mayweather fights John Gotti III, grandson of a mafia boss: the ‘Teflon Don’ John Gotti who once ran the Gambino crime family in New York. But the real robbery here might be for anyone who buys this ‘contest’ on PPV via somewhere called the Zeus Network.

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The buzz around the Florida event is not exactly Mayweather vs Conor McGregor. In truth it doesn’t even come close to Mayweather vs Logan Paul. Combine it with the dismal flop that was Mayweather vs Aaron Chalmers, played out before empty seats inside London’s O2 in February, and it is clearly time to ring the final bell on ‘Money’ as a PPV attraction.

Excusing the overwhelming lack of interest in boxing’s former pound-for-pound no.1 vs the Geordie Shore ‘star’, Mayweather claimed: “When you buy tickets over here [in Britain], you don’t really want to spend money. In America we don’t mind spending money.”

Considering the British public filled a football stadium to watch a mismatch in Tyson Fury vs Derek Chisora III and seems to have an insatiable appetite for boxing – coupled with the fact that this was Mayweather’s in-ring UK debut – you realise just how hollow his excuses sound.

“Even in retirement, I’m still able to milk the game of boxing, continuing to make eight figures or more,” Mayweather once boasted. “I will continue to do exhibition bouts, making tons of money and people from all around the world will continue to pay because my hustle is just different.”

That was true, to a point. Mayweather’s bout against McGregor, officially his last pro fight but in reality an all-hype crossover contest against an MMA fighter making his boxing debut, was a dazzling success. It is still the second biggest boxing PPV of all time, behind only Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao, and earned Floyd a reported $275million.

Emboldened by the fact he could make millions fighting non-boxers, Mayweather has thrown himself into the exhibition scene. His KO1 of kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in Japan was a sorry spectacle but had a freakshow quality, while his 2021 bout against Logan Paul – which he referred to as ‘legalised bank robbery’ – did well, snaring between 650,000 and a million PPV buys in the US alone (despite a $50 price tag).

That tedious bout may have been Mayweather’s final roll of the dice as a box office megastar, however. Since then he’s ‘fought’ Don Moore, Mikuru Asakura, Deji and Chalmers. Undoubtedly someone is paying big bucks for Mayweather to essentially spar in Dubai or the UAE, but the wider world cares less and less as each event slips by.

Certainly the impressive PPV numbers are no longer leaked or reported since the bout against Paul. Mainly because they’re likely not very impressive any more. And the undoubted success of that event was as much down to ‘The Maverick’ – who boasts his own vast fanbase – as it was about Mayweather’s drawing power.

Yet in Mayweather’s defence (always his strongest attribute), it is stunning that his time as boxing’s greatest global draw has gone on this long.

It was 17 years ago that Mayweather bought himself out of his Top Rank contract for $750,000, essentially betting on himself that he could be a far bigger star than he was at the time. It was the greatest gamble of this high-roller’s career.

In 2007, Mayweather took on Oscar De La Hoya – and just as importantly introduced the world to his brash, cash-flashing, motor-mouthed ‘Money’ persona. The event did 2.4million buys in the USA and made Mayweather, whether you loved or hated him, a breakout star.

The blockbuster bouts against Ricky Hatton, Shane Mosley, Miguel Cotto, Canelo Alvarez and, belatedly, Pacquiao followed. Mayweather’s self-made success was made all the more remarkable by the fact that his style was rarely crowd-pleasing in a traditional sense.

Mike Tyson was boxing’s biggest box office draw of the late 1980s and 1990s because he was ‘the baddest man on the planet’: a snarling heavyweight capable of producing explosive knockouts. It made logical sense. Mayweather, however, broke pay-per-view and gate records despite never fighting above 151lb and relying on a slick defensive style.

Floyd has to take all the credit for his unique skills as a self-promoter, and fan fascination has lasted long past the point he last met a full-time professional boxer in the ring (against Andre Berto back in 2015).

But after having the public wrapped around his little finger for the best part of 16 years since that career-making win against De La Hoya, Mayweather finally seems to have run out of magic. The performance against Logan Paul did not help. While his younger and larger opponent barely landed a clean punch, Mayweather as he later admitted, has clearly diminished as a boxer as Paul was allowed to last the distance.

There are still ways for Floyd to make money of course, something that comes as naturally to him as a shoulder roll. Exhibition rematches with McGregor or Pacquiao – or a contest with Logan’s younger brother, Jake Paul – have a built-in storyline, even if each would have most serious boxing fans reaching for the sick bucket.

But these would still be diminishing returns, rehashing old feuds and storylines. ‘Tank’ Davis, once Mayweather’s protege, reportedly did an impressive 1.2million US PPV buys for his KO of Ryan Garcia in April.

It was another sign that active American boxers have finally caught up and overtaken the 46-year-old Mayweather when it comes to wider interest. Mayweather’s contest against Gotti will generate some casual curiosity, but how many sports fans will genuinely pay to see it? Mayweather controlled boxing’s box office landscape for as long as any fighter – even stretching it into retirement – but the party is finally over. The ‘Money’ has all run out.