Mayweather has 14 days to make his appeal to the WBO’s decision. However, even if he does appeal, the odds are stacked against him getting his WBO 147lb title back.
If the WBO has its mind made up that they’re not going to let Mayweather keep his strap, then the appeal might not help unless Mayweather is able to give the WBO want they want, which is Mayweather giving them the $200K and vacating his two 154lb titles.
“We have the best attorney in the game, John Hornewer, and we are fully aware of what our rights are,” Ellerbe said to ESPN.com. “Floyd will decide what he wants to do.”
WBO interim welterweight champion Tim Bradley stands to gain from this with Mayweather being stripped of his WBO title. Bradley, a fighter who is promoted by the powerhouse Top Rank, is expected to have his interim WBO title elevated to the full WBO title within days. Ellerbe doesn’t appear to be happy about it in connecting the dots.
“I’m not surprised at all because of the individuals involved we’re talking about,” said Ellerbe. “It’s a complete disgrace. Floyd will decide what, or if any, actions he will take. But in the meantime he’s enjoying a couple of hundred million he made from his last outing and this has zero impact on anything he does.”
Top Rank fighters have held the WBO welterweight title for the past six years dating back to when Miguel Cotto picked up the title in 2009 after Paul Williams vacated it. The only interruption of a Top Rank fighter holding the WBO title from 2009 to 2015 was when Mayweather briefly held it after beating Pacquiao.
If Mayweather does want to try and keep the WBO title, he’s likely going to have to give the WBO want they want. But it doesn’t seem to add up for Mayweather if he does choose to try and appeal the WBO’s decision because there’s no real gain for him in keeping the title.
Boxing fans already see him as the best fighter in the welterweight division, and that won’t change if he chooses not to try and get the WBO belt back. If Mayweather was interested in capturing the IBF title to add the final piece of the welterweight puzzle to his collection, then it makes sense for Mayweather to make the effort to keep the WBO 147lb title. But I think boxing fans would be more impressed if Mayweather were to try and capture one of the middleweight titles against the likes of WBA 160lb champ Gennady Golovkin, WBC champ Miguel Cotto, IBF champ David Lemieux or WBO champion Andy Lee.
It would be Mayweather’s 6th division world title if he were to beat any one of those fighters, and he would impress fans a lot more with a victory over them than it would be for him to keep the WBO 147lb title and go after IBF champion Kell Brook.
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