Floyd Mayweather to be stripped of WBO welterweight title on Monday
On Monday morning, Floyd Mayweather is expected to be stripped of his World Boxing Organization welterweight title, and Timothy Bradley, the current WBO interim titlist, will be elevated to full beltholder.
Mayweather, who won the title when he defeated Manny Pacquiao on May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in the so-called "Fight of the Century," was required to pay a $200K sanctioning fee by a July 3rd deadline in order to keep the belt, which he failed to do.
The story was first reported by ESPN.com.
Mayweather had asked the WBO for an Aug. 1 deadline, according to a resolution by the Puerto Rico-based sanctioning body, but the WBO gave him until July 3.
In a tweet on June 30, three days after Bradley defeated Jesse Vargas by unanimous decision, Jose Izquierdo II, general secretary of the WBO, said "@Timbradleyjr looked great! @FloydMayweather must comply with @WorldBoxingOrg Rules by July 3. If he doesn't, Bradley becomes full champ."
After defeating Pacquiao on May 2, Mayweather said he would relinquish his belts "within a couple weeks" to allow younger fighters a chance to earn a title. "Other fighters need a chance," Mayweather was quoted as saying. "Give other fighters a chance. I'm not greedy. I'm a world champion in two different weight classes. It's time to let other fighters fight for the belt."
Yet he failed to give up the belts and has since changed his mind about doing so.
Because of Mayweather's assertion, the WBO created a vacant interim belt for the Bradley-Vargas fight, which ended on a controversial call by referee Pat Russell 8 seconds early when he thought he heard the final bell. It was actually the 10-second warning. Bradley was ahead on the scorecards, but was seemingly out on his feet after a hard Vargas punch caught him squarely on the jaw with less than 30 second remaining.
Mayweather also holds the WBA and WBC belts at welterweight, and the WBA and WBC light middleweight belts, which is another problem.
The WBO regulations also required that Mayweather must relinquish his 154-pound titles, because it states that "no WBO Champion may hold a non-WBO Championship in a weight class that is different from his WBO Championship," which is 147 pounds.
Mayweather, 38, has said he will fight for the 49th and final time on Sept. 12, but has yet to name an opponent. It is his last of a six-fight deal with Showtime, and many expect the undefeated, pound-for-pound best fighter in the world to fight at least one more time after that, to beat Rocky Marciano's longstanding record of 49-0.
Names that have been mentioned as possible opponents for Sept. 12 include Amir Khan, Andre Berto, Karim Mayfield, Kell Brook, Shawn Porter or possibly even Bradley, if Mayweather is intent on getting that soon-to-be-stripped WBO belt back.