Floyd “Money” Mayweather may have won the historic fight on May 2nd against Filipino fighter Manny Pacquiao but he will be stripped of the title that comes with it.
The flashy Vegas-based boxer, who spares little expense in his extravagant daily life, decided not to pay the $200,000 sanction fee required by the World Boxing Organization to keep the “Welter-weight Champion” title.
According to the WBO, boxers are required to pay 3 percent of their purse in order to fight for a world title—a figure that can range between $1,000 and $200,000.
Fighters are typically required to pay the fee on fight night (Pacquiao did) but when Mayweather fought Pacquaio at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, he indicated he wasn’t sure he wanted the title.
“Other fighters need to get a chance,” Mayweather said in a press conference after the fight. “I’m not greedy. It’s time to let other fighters fight for the belt.”
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The WBO gave Mayweather until last Friday to decide if he wanted to pay up. He missed the deadline and on Monday the Puerto Rico-based organization stripped him of his title.
‘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,” read a press released signed by WBO Chairman, Luis Batista Salas.
The decision will promote Timothy Bradley, who defeated Jessie Vargas on June 27, for the interim championship to full champion status.
Mayweather seemed annoyed though generally unfazed by the ruling.
It's a complete disgrace," Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe told ESPN.com. "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.”
Ellerbe added that the boxer, who he said respects the WBO, “will not be dictated to by any organization or person as it relates to his decision making."
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