WBC to offer ‘special’ belt for Mayweather-Pacquiao bout

MANILA, Philippines – The winner of what’s expected to be the richest fight in boxing history will also take home a special championship belt.

This after the World Boxing Council announced that it will hand out a belt made of either emeralds or platinum to the winner of the megabuck bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao on May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

“For this special recognition I would like to have emeralds or platinum, but everything will be defined during the next weeks,” WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman said in a blog posted on the sanctioning organization’s official website.

The undefeated Mayweather holds the Mexico-based organization’s welterweight title along with that of rival World Boxing Association, while Pacquiao is the World Boxing Organization king in the same division.

This makes their showdown a unification bout, with the winner also walking away as the best fighter on the planet.

And he will likewise have a unique diadem as a reward for the accomplishment.

 “This is because of the magnitude of the event, which will be broadcast via TV networks globally,” Sulaiman added.

The Mayweather-Pacquiao bout is forecast to shatter existing pay-per-view records, and the WBC believes it deserves to be treated differently from the usual championship fights.

“Boxing’s crowns are figurative rather than literal, and yet their weight is much more than 10 pounds of leather and brass ever could be,” the organization added.

“The crowns belong to the lineal champs, those men who proved themselves the absolute best in their divisions, either by beating the last man to hold that claim, or by succeeding in a bout between the division’s consensus numbers one and two. The wearers of the crowns — there are eight currently in the sport — are the closest things boxing has left to true champions, though there are those who scoff at the idea of such a thing.” – Dino Maragay