Mayweather Stripped of 'Fight of the Century' Belt

Boxer failed to pay fee, give up titles in other weight classes
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 7, 2015 6:03 AM CDT
Mayweather Stripped of 'Fight of the Century' Belt
This May 2, 2015 file photo shows Floyd Mayweather Jr., left, hits Manny Pacquiao, during their welterweight title fight in Las Vegas.   (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken, File)

Floyd "Money" Mayweather has nothing to show for his "fight of the century" against Manny Pacquiao but his paltry $240 million. The World Boxing Organization has stripped the boxer, 38, of his welterweight title earned in Las Vegas in May after he failed to pay a $200,000 "sanctioning" fee, according to a statement. The WBO also takes issue with Mayweather for failing to relinquish his World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council titles in the junior middleweight class; a boxer can only hold titles in one division at a time. Though a boxer is usually given 10 days to decide on his weight class after winning in another division, the WHO was rather lenient with Mayweather and gave him two months, reports ESPN.

The WBO says it "received no response from him or his legal representatives on this matter." A rep for Mayweather has called the decision "a complete disgrace… 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." Interestingly, just hours after his fight with Pacquiao, Mayweather told a press conference he'd consider giving up his belts. "I'm not greedy. The other guys need a chance. It is time they fight for the belts," he said. CNN reports Mayweather has two weeks to appeal. If the decision stands, the welterweight title will go to Timothy Bradley after an interim title bout win last month. (More Floyd Mayweather Jr. stories.)

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