THE World Boxing Organisation has stripped Floyd Mayweather of his welterweight world title after he failed to pay the governing body a mandatory £130,000 sanction fee.
The 38-year-old has had the belt - awarded following a unanimous-points victory over Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas on May 2 - taken off him after missing Friday's deadline to pay the WBO out of the bout's reported £192m 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."
Mayweather has until July 20 to appeal the decision. His compatriot Timothy Bradley will now become the holder of the belt. The WBO have created a vacant welterweight belt for the fight between Bradley and Jesse Vargas which has been scheduled for JUne 27.
