Floyd Mayweather Jr was on Monday stripped by the World Boxing Organization (WBO) of the welterweight world title he won by beating Manny Pacquiao two months ago. Mayweather failed to meet the deadline on Friday last week to pay the US$200,000 sanctioning fee required by the WBO after he took the belt from Pacquiao on May 2 in Las Vegas in the richest fight of all time, earning a reported US$220 million in the process.
WBO rules require boxers to pay 3 percent of their purse to fight for a world title up to a maximum of US$200,000. The rules also prohibit WBO champions to hold any belts in any other weight divisions. Mayweather is currently also the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association champion at junior middleweight and welterweight. A statement on the Puerto Rico-based sanctioning body’s Web site confirmed that Mayweather, regarded as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, was no longer the WBO champion.
“Mr Mayweather Jr failed to pay the US$200,000 fee required of him as a participant of a WBO world championship contest,” the statement said. “Despite affording Mr Mayweather Jr the courtesy of an extension to advise us of his position within the WBO welterweight division and to vacate the two 154-pound world titles he holds, the WBO World Championship Committee received no response from him or his legal representatives on this matter.”
“The WBO World Championship Committee is allowed no other alternative, but to cease to recognize Mr Floyd Mayweather Jr as the WBO Welterweight Champion of the World and vacate his title,” the statement said.
After Mayweather (48-0, 26 KOs) defeated Pacquiao to unify three of the four major welterweight world titles, he had declared that he would vacate all his titles in order to give younger fighters the chance to win belts.
“I don’t know if it will be Monday or maybe a couple weeks,” Mayweather said at the post-fight news conference. “I’ll talk to my team and see what we need to do. Other fighters need a chance.”
US boxer Timothy Bradley, who defeated countryman Jessie Vargas for the WBO interim welterweight belt on June 27, is now expected to be formally elevated to full champion status by the WBO.
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