Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. AP FILE PHOTO
In a weird twist of fate, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been allowed to keep holding his welterweight belts despite announcing his retirement.
In a report of ESPN, the undefeated world boxing champ has been allowed by two governing bodies in boxing even though the 49-0 fighter already expressed his intention of leaving the sport at the conclusion of his match with Andre Berto last week.
Mayweather continues to hold the WBC and WBA welterweight and junior middleweight titles, a complete opposite of his earlier expected move to let go of the belts. It is also contrary to what seemed to be a noble claim after his May superfight against Manny Pacquiao, where he said he wanted to give some young fighters a chance for the championships.
WBO earlier stripped Mayweather of the welterweight title he won against Pacquiao for not adhering to their rules.
The WBA is expected to follow suit in stripping the American champ though no concrete date has been set.
But the same can’t be said for WBC, which has allowed Mayweather to continue holding its junior middleweight title for two years without defending the championship, a clear violation of its rules.
The organization, though, said it would not address the Mayweather issue until its annual convention in November 1 to 6 in Kunming, China.
“The future of the welterweight and (junior middleweight) divisions will be among the priority discussions during the convention,” said the WBC in a statement.