Floyd Mayweather stripped of WBO welterweight title
Floyd Mayweather (48-0, 26 KOs) has officially been stripped of the WBO welterweight title.
Mayweather, who also holds the WBC and WBA titles in both the welterweight and light middleweight divisions, claimed the first WBO title of his career when he outpointed Manny Pacquiao on May 2 in a 147-pound unification fight.
The WBO gave Mayweather a deadline to meet its criteria for a champion, including making a payment of $200,000 from his Pacquiao purse and giving up his WBC and WBA light-middleweight titles, due to organization rules against boxers holding world titles in multiple weight classes, he failed to comply with neither of them and was stripped of the belt.
"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," the WBO said on its website.
Mayweather has 14 days to appeal, but the decision is unlikely to be changed.
The unbeaten American has stated that he would be giving up all his titles ahead of his final fight in September this year but he has yet to do so.
Timothy Bradley, who won the WBO interim title with a points win over Jessie Vargas last month, will now likely become the WBO champion for a second time.