By Dan Ambrose: Floyd Mayweather Jr. (47-0, 26 KOs) accomplished what he set out to do tonight by defeating WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2, 28 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision to prove that he’s the best fighter on the planet. But now that he’s beaten Pacquiao and proven himself to be the best of all time, Mayweather says he plans on vacating all of his titles this Monday. Mayweather is currently holding the WBA/WBC/WBO titles at 147, and WBA/WBC titles at 154.
“Floyd says he is going to relinquish all his belts on Monday. #Mayweather-Pacquiao #boxing,” Dan Rafael said on his twitter.
One can only guess what the rationale is for Mayweather to vacate all his belts, but my guess is he doesn’t have any use for them any longer. He plans on retiring after his next fight in September, and the titles really mean nothing to Mayweather at this point. The belts are arguably more of a nuisance than an asset for Mayweather because it means he has to pay the sanctioning fees that come with having those belts in his possession each time he fights.
In addition to that, having the titles puts Mayweather into the position where he has to fight guys that the sanctioning bodies want him to. It doesn’t make sense for Mayweather to fight someone who doesn’t have a fan base in the United States. For instance. The WBC recently ranked Amir Khan at No.1 with their organization. That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t make sense for Mayweather to fight Khan unless the money is there and the fans interest.
Mayweather already fought Robert Guerrero and Marcos Maidana in fights in which the interest from fans was only so-so. But If Mayweather is going to fight only one more time, he’d going to want to fight a big name that has a fan base, someone like Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Danny Garcia or Miguel Cotto. One of those three would do nicely for Mayweather’s next opponent.
Mayweather already proved himself as the best fighter in the welterweight division by beating Pacquiao tonight. There’s no point in him holding onto all the various titles he has in his possession just so that the sanctioning bodies can try and force him to fight someone that they’ve ranked high but who doesn’t have a fan base in the U.S.
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