The World Boxing Organization (WBO) has announced that it
has stripped Floyd Mayweather of its Welterweight world championship. In a
statement released today on the WBO’s official website Luis Batista Salas,
chairman of the WBO championship committee stated that the sanctioning
organization has in accordance with its rules stripped Mayweather of the
championship that he won in a unification bout against, then WBO champion Manny
Pacquiao on May 2nd.
In its statement the WBO said that Mayweather failed to
respond to an extension that was given to him to decide whether he was going to
relinquish the WBC/WBA Jr. Middleweight world championships that Mayweather
currently holds, as WBO rules state that no WBO champion may hold a non-WBO
championship in a weight class that is different from the weight class where a
fighter holds a WBO world championship. This follows Mayweather’s statement
following his victory over Manny Pacquiao that he intended to relinquish all
the world titles he currently holds in both the Welterweight and Jr. Middleweight
divisions.
Mayweather requested and was given an extension by the WBO
until July 3rd after it had been announced that the sanctioning organization
had sanctioned the recent Timothy Bradley-Jessie Vargas bout as being for the vacated
WBO Welterweight world championship. The Bradley-Vargas fight, which took place
at the StubHub Center in Carson, California on June 27th was changed from being
for a vacated world championship to a fight for interim championship status in
the WBO’s Welterweight ratings.
It is unclear as of this writing as to what this might mean
for Timothy Bradley who scored a twelve round unanimous decision over Vargas.
As of this writing, Mayweather still holds the WBC/WBA world championships in
both the Welterweight and Jr. Middleweight divisions. As this observer stated
last week, if Mayweather were to follow through with what he stated following
his victory over Pacquiao and relinquish the world titles he currently holds, a
fighter in Bradley’s position could find himself in one of two scenarios.
Bradley could be mandated as the WBO’s top contender to face
the sanctioning organization’s next highest available contender to determine a
new WBO Welterweight world champion. The other and perhaps more likely scenario
as this observer stated could be that Bradley having earned interim
championship status in the WBO’s Welterweight ratings could simply be named
world champion by the sanctioning organization. It is a scenario that is not
uncommon in the sport when a fighter is deemed as having interim status in a
sanctioning organization’s respective ratings in a weight class for that
fighter to be named champion in the event that the current champion either
relinquishes his title or is stripped of it by the sanctioning organization in
question.
It is also unclear as to what this might mean for both the
WBC and WBA Welterweight world championships. As this observer stated last
week, Bradley’s situation is one that is not all that unlike the situation that
undefeated Welterweight contender Keith Thurman may find himself in the event
that Mayweather either relinquishes or is stripped of the WBA version of the Welterweight
world championship due to Thurman holding interim/regular champion status in
the WBA’s welterweight ratings.
Thurman is scheduled to face former WBA Welterweight world
champion Luis Collazo on Saturday, July 11th at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa,
Florida. Although it is unclear whether the World Boxing Council (WBC) or the
World Boxing Association (WBA) will take a similar approach to what the WBO has
done, it is logical to assume that the winner of the Thurman-Collazo bout may
be recognized as WBA world champion in the near future if Mayweather
relinquishes or is stripped of the WBA title. Now that the WBO has vacated its
Welterweight world championship it will be interesting to see if the division ends
up with three vacated world championships at some point in the near future or
if the WBC and WBA will hold bouts for those world titles in the event that Mayweather
chooses to relinquish both world championships or is stripped. Stay tuned.
“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”
To read the WBO’s statement regarding the status of its Welterweight
world championship please visit: http://www.wboboxing.com/resolution-to-vacate-wbo-title-of-floyd-mayweather/
.
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