The World Boxing Organisation has ceased to recognise Floyd Mayweather as its welterweight world champion after he failed to pay the governing body a mandatory 200,000 US dollar (€182,000) sanction fee.
The 38-year-old has been stripped of the title he claimed from a unanimous-decision victory over Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas on May 2 after missing Friday's deadline to pay the WBO a sanction fee taken from the bout's reported 300million US dollar (€273million) purse.
Mayweather remains the welterweight and super welterweight champion with the WBC and WBA respectively, but boxers are forbidden from holding world titles across multiple weight classes and the WBO had asked him to relinquish the belts.
A statement published on wboboxing.com on Monday night read: “In the present case, Mr Mayweather Jr failed to pay the 200,000 US dollar fee required of him as a participant of a WBO World Championship Contest.
“Despite affording Mr Mayweather Jr the courtesy of an extension to advise us of his position within the WBO Welterweight Division and to vacate the two 154-pound world titles he holds, the WBO World Championship Committee received no response from him or his legal representatives on this matter.
"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.
“This is a final decision of the WBO World Championship Committee. The affected WBO Participant may appeal to the Complaint and Grievance Committee pursuant to WBO World Championship Section 34, which per Rule 3(e) of the WBO Appeals Regulation, must be submitted in writing to the WBO President within 14 days of the date of this decision as its sole and exclusive remedy.”
Elsewhere, unbeaten Tyson Fury will take on heavyweight champions Wladimir Klitschko in Dusseldorf on October 24th.
