UNDEFEATED no more? Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been stripped of the welterweight world title he won after his anticipated match with Manny Pacquiao, for failing to comply with World Boxing Organization (WBO) rules.
Mayweather, whose record stands at 48-0 after beating Pacquiao in May, missed a deadline by which he had to pay a $200,000 sanctioning fee from the fight and vacate the junior middleweight title he also held.
“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 for failing to comply with our WBO regulations of world championship contests,” the WBO wrote on Monday, July 6 in its resolution.
The WBO said it is against sanctioning organization rules for boxers to hold world titles in multiple weight classes, and Mayweather had a strict deadline to indicate which weight division he would retain. Meanwhile, the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association had been breaking their own rules by allowing Mayweather to hold their multiple titles, but the WBO upheld its rules.
The 38-year-old billionaire boxer had until 4:30pm ET on Friday, July 3, to advise the WBO of his position. Typically, the WBO will allow a fighter 10 days to decide which weight class he wants to continue to hold the title in, if he wins one in another weight division. This time, the organization already gave him a leeway of two months.
“The WBO has the utmost respect for Floyd Mayweather Jr. and all that he has accomplished during his storied career,” the WBO wrote in its resolution. “Mr. Mayweather has always agreed with and understood that world championships have both privileges and responsibilities and that status as WBO champion is subject to and conditioned on compliance with the WBO rules and regulations.”
The Mayweather camp was very displeased by the ruling.
“It’s a complete disgrace,” Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe told ESPN. “Floyd will decide what, or if any, actions he will take. But in the meantime he’s enjoying a couple of hundred million he made from his last outing and this has zero impact on anything he does…[Floyd] has a great deal of respect for each and every organization, as he has always had in his 19-year career, but he will not be dictated to by any organization or person as it relates to his decision making.”
Mayweather reportedly earned more than $220 million during the May 2nd “Fight of the Century” against Pacquiao, where he also finished ahead on all three scorecards. The fight generated a record pay-per-view revenue in the US of $400 million.
After the fight, Mayweather spoke at a press conference about how he planned to vacate all of his titles in order to give younger fighters the chance to realize their dreams of winning belts.
“I don’t know if it will be Monday [May 4] or maybe a couple weeks,” Mayweather said at the conference. “I’ll talk to my team and see what we need to do. Other fighters need a chance. 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.”
After Mayweather’s pronouncement, the WBO sanctioned the June 27 fight between former titleholder Timothy Bradley Jr. and junior welterweight titlist Jessie Vargas for its vacant welterweight title. Mayweather immediately objected to the WBO in a letter from his lawyer, John Hornewer, on May 20. The WBO then laid out to Mayweather what he needed to do to keep the title, namely pay the fee and vacate the junior middleweight belts.
The WBO also reclassified the Bradley-Vargas bout as for the interim title. With Mayweather losing his welterweight title, the WBO soon will formally replace him with Bradley, who won a unanimous decision against Vargas, to become the full titleholder.
“I’m not surprised at all because of the individuals involved we’re talking about,” said Ellerbe, who believes WBO president Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel is involved with Top Rank’s Bob Arum, who promotes Bradley and Vargas and is “close” to the WBO.
“We have the best attorney in the game [John Hornewer], and we are fully aware of what our rights are. Floyd will decide what he wants to do,” Ellerbe added.
Throughout 19 years, Mayweather has won 11 world titles in five weight classes, from 130 to 154 pounds. He plans his next and final fight in September, to an unannounced opponent, completing his six-fight contract with Showtime/CBS. Afterwards, he said he plans to retire to “give other fighters a chance.”
Mayweather has just 14 days to launch a written appeal in response to the WBO’s ruling. (With reports from ESPN, Reuters)
