Mayweather loses WBO title he won from Pacquiao bout

Pound-for-pound king Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. (Photo courtesy of Mayweather Promotions)

MANILA – The World Boxing Organization (WBO) stripped of Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr.’s WBO Welterweight Champion of the World title which he got from his megafight with Filipino boxer Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao earlier this year.

“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 said in its resolution, mentioning that the boxing organization prohibited boxers from holding numerous world titles in different weight classes at the same time.

Aside from the WBO welterweight title, Mayweather also held two alphabet welterweight world titles from the World Boxing Council (WBC) and the World Boxing Association (WBA).

The WBC and the WBA bypassed their rules and allowed Mayweather to retain his titles but the WBO was firm on its rules.

The WBO, for its part, claimed that it repeatedly reminded Mayweather of the boxing rule for two months before ceasing his title.

Mayweather respected the organization and ‘spoke at length about affording the opportunity to other fighters, particularly those of a younger generation’ as he was ‘not greedy.’

He was then sanctioned to pay $200,000 from his last fight. He, however, was unable to meet the deadline to pay the said amount, stripping him of his WBO title.

“The WBO has the utmost respect for Floyd Mayweather Jr. and all that he has accomplished during his storied career…  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 WBO further said in its resolution.

Mayweather’s camp, however, was displeased by the WBO’s ruling.

“It’s a complete disgrace…  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,” Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe said in an ESPN report.

“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 added.

With the WBO Welterweight Champion of the World vacated, American boxer Timothy Bradley has been seen as the possible title holder after recently defeating Jessie Vargas.