Mayweather Stripped Of WBO Title Belt Over Sanctioning Fee
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been stripped of his WBO welterweight title after it was announced he declined to pay a $200,000 sanctioning fee.
Mayweather, 38, won the title after defeating Manny Pacquiao in a highly-publicized fight on May 2 in Las Vegas. The decision to strip the title came following a committee vote on Monday.
Mayweather had originally indicated he was looking to vacate the WBA and WBC junior middleweight belts, since fighters may not hold world championships in more than one class.
The WBO demanded that Mayweather declare his intentions by July 3, following a fight for the belt between Timothy Bradley and Jessie Vargas in June.
If Mayweather had declared to relinquish the belt, Bradley's championship title was set to progress from interim to world champion.
The victory marks the fifth championship belt for Bradley.