Floyd Mayweather was stripped of the welterweight world title he won in his high-profile May 2 boxing match with Manny Pacquiao after failing to vacate the two junior middleweight titles he also holds.
"The World Boxing Organization 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 Monday in a resolution,
ESPN reported.
In addition to failing to relinquish his two previously held titles, WBO said that Mayweather also failed to pay a $200,000 sanctioning fee from the fight. Mayweather missed multiple deadlines to follow the rules.
"It’s a complete disgrace," said Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe. "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."
After the fight with Pacquiao, Mayweather said he would vacate all of his titles to give younger fighters a chance at winning them.
"I don't know if it will be Monday [May 4] or maybe a couple weeks," he said at the time. "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."
With that in mind, WBO held a June 27 match between former titleholder Timothy Bradley Jr. and junior welterweight titlist Jessie Vargas for the interim title. Now that Mayweather has been stripped, Bradley, the victor, is expected to be elevated to full titleholder.
Mayweather has two weeks to appeal the WBO decision.
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