Floyd Mayweather Jr. is now without his latest belt, after the World Boxing Organization (WBO) stripped him of the title he won in May in a highly publicised bout with Manny Pacquiao.
As The Hollywood Reporter reports, Mayweather’s title has been stripped after he failed to pay a $200,000 sanctioning fee to the WBO by Friday.
Mayweather’s forgetfulness, or stubbornness — we doubt he’s lacking in funds — has also led him to lose his two junior middleweight titles, according to the WBO rule which prohibits boxers from holding titles in multiple weight classes.
In a statement, the WBO has said, “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 has the utmost respect for Floyd Mayweather Jr. and all that he has accomplished during his storied career, and [he] 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.”
Mayweather, who holds a 48-0 boxing record, has two weeks to file an appeal against the decision. Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather Promotions’ CEO, has already told ESPN that the ruling is a “complete disgrace”.
“Floyd Mayweather 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,” Ellerbe said.
Despite the pre-match hype, Mayweather and Pacquiao’s May fight was deemed disappointing by a number of athletes and celebrities.
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