WBA set to strip Mayweather of title

MANILA, Philippines – The World Boxing Association said it will soon strip the retired Floyd Mayweather Jr. of the WBA “super” welterweight championship.

Mayweather unified the WBA, World Boxing Council and World Boxing Organization welterweight titles when he defeated Manny Pacquiao in May last year. Pacquiao entered the fight holding the WBO version of the crown.

But the WBO later stripped Mayweather of its belt after he refused to pay the $200,000  sanctioning fee for his unification fight with Pacquiao. Timothy Bradley, who at that time was the WBO interim welterweight champion, was then elevated to full champion status.

Mayweather went on to fight once more, dominating Andre Berto then announcing his retirement from the sport. At that time, he was the WBA and WBC champion.

The WBC has removed Mayweather in its list of champions during the sanctioning body’s recent year-end convention.

The WBA, for its part, is set to follow suit, saying Mayweather will no longer be champion by the end of the month.

"It is a matter of formality, in late January [Mayweather] will not be [the champion]," WBA president Gilberto Mendoza Jr. recently told ESPN Deportes.