Floyd Mayweather Jr. (Photo : Reuters)
Unbeaten American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. would likely lose one of the three welterweight titles he won when he defeated eight-division title holder Manny Pacquiao in their title unification fight on May 2.
The WBO said it would stripped Mayweather of the 147-pound title after he failed to meet the 4:30 p.m. deadline of the boxing organization based in Puerto Rico to pay the $200,000 sanctioning fee on Friday. The amount, ironically is just less than .01 percent of the estimated $235 million that the world's highest-paid celebrity (as declared last week by Forbes) earned for 36 minutes of running around the ring.
ESPN reports that Mayweather failed to fulfill his promise after the bout to vacate all of his titles to give younger chances an opportunity to fight for the belt. He made the promise right after the "Fight of the Century" which disappointed many boxing fans but broke a lot of records.
"Money May" also broke his promise to give up the belts from two different weight classes which is actually against sanctioning organization rules for pugilists, but the WBC and WBA are looking the other way. However, WBO told the boxer to decide which weight class to choose - the 147 pounds or 143 pounds. Mayweather had no plans of accepting the WBO title for the 147-pound class, but he changed his mind.
WBO President Francisco "Paco" Valcarcel, who said last week the organization would strip Mayweather if he fails to meet the payment deadline, said the WBO would likely vote on the action as early as Monday. A vote by the WBO championship committee would result in Timothy Bradley Jr. - who won by unanimous decision on June 27 against Jessie Vargas - being given the full welterweight title.
Mayweather's next fight is tentatively schedule on September 12, however, he has not announced who will be his opponent. While the WBO action would not affect Mayweather's 48-0 record, Washington Post opines that what happened could just be a long set-up for a rematch with Pacquiao, given the recent verbal sparring session between the two boxers.
