SPORTSCLOPEDIA 53: MAYWEATHER VS. GOTTI CHAOS, NBA CHAMPIONS AND TAPALES FACES INOUE-FULTON WINNER
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 15 Jun 2023
There was total chaos after the end of an exhibition match between boxing legend Floyd Mayweather and John Gotti III, the grandson of an infamous New York gangster, at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida. Gotti was disqualified by referee Kenny Bayless in Round 6 for repeatedly grabbing Mayweather. The decision angered Gotti, who shoved the referee aside and threw punches at Mayweather. Before the stoppage, the undefeated Mayweather took it easy to please the crowd in the first five rounds.
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Mayweather, age 46 of Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S., had his seventh exhibition bout against Gotti. Other exhibition opponents have included Logan Paul, Deji Olatunji, Mikuru Asakura, Don Moore, Tenshin Nasukawa and Aaron Chalmers. Gotti, age 30 of Rockville Center, New York, U.S., is a 2-0 professional boxer, who also compiled a 5-1 pro MMA record from 2017 to 2020. Mayweather is 50-0 with 27 knockouts as a pro.
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The NBA Champions:
Los Angeles Lakers - 17
Boston Celtics - 17
Golden State Warriors - 7
Chicago Bulls - 6
San Antonio Spurs - 5
Philadelphia 76ers - 3
Detroit Pistons - 3
Miami Heat - 3
New York Knicks - 2
Milwaukee Bucks - 2
Houston Rockets - 2
Cleveland Cavaliers - 1
Toronto Raptors - 1
Atlanta Hawks - 1
Portland Trail Blazers - 1
Dallas Mavericks - 1
Washington Wizards - 1
Oklahoma City Thunder - 1
Denver Nuggets - 1
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The Boston Celtics and the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers between them own almost half of the NBA titles, having won a combined 34 of 76 championships (with 17 apiece). The two also have the most Finals meetings with 12; the Celtics own a 9–3 advantage over their arch-rival Lakers.
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The World Boxing Association (WBA) Championships Committee approved on June 5, 2023, that WBA super bantamweight champion Marlon Tapales will unify his title belt against the winner of Naoya Inoue versus Stephen Fulton fight. Meanwhile, Murodjon Akhmadaliev and Tomoki Kameda are mandated to clash in a final eliminator to determine the division’s mandatory challenger. Tapales defeated Akhmadaliev last April 8 to retain the title in a controversial split decision. Matchroom Boxing requested a rematch to the WBA but could not be done at this time.
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The Filipino champion and his team asked the WBA for permission to fight the winner of Inoue and Fulton, whose bout will take place on July 25. This bout would be a unification of the WBA, IBF, WBC and WBO titles, which is a very important fight to realize for the sake of boxing. Akhmadaliev will fight Kameda, who won a semi-final eliminator against Yonfrez Parejo and the winner of this fight will be the next opponent of whoever wins between Tapales / Inoue /Fulton on a date to be scheduled later.
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