Floyd Mayweather Stripped of Titles, Looks For Last Opponent

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is never that far from controversy of one sort or another. After beating Manny Pacquiao in what some termed a rather indifferent fight, Mayweather, who improved to 48-0, was stripped of the world welterweight title he won for failing to comply with the rules, according to the World Boxing Organization (WBO).

Mayweather was due to pay a $200,000 sanctioning due from the fight but ultimately missed the deadline. He also was stripped of the Junior Middleweight title, his original title. From The Huffington Post comes an explanation, "The WBO said it is against rules for boxers to hold world titles in multiple weight classes and that Mayweather had to indicate which weight division he he would retain."

Mayweather failed to do so, which Huffington Post tells readers, resulted in some stiff penalties:

"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' the WBO said in a statement."

Now, the title-less Floyd Mayweather is left to plan his Swan song fight against an as of yet unnamed opponent. Retirement beckons, and the undefeated ex-champion will look to cash in on one last big payday before he rides off into the sunset. Mayweather earned $200 million fighting Manny Pacquiao. His last fight should pull in quite a haul.

According to The Business Insider, Mayweather's most likely opponent will be "Andre Berto (30-3, 23 knockouts): Berto is one of two names Mayweather mentioned as his preferred potential opponent. While some thought he was joking, Mayweather reiterated the fact he was '100% serious' in an interview with Fight Hype's Ben Thompson. While Berto may not be the most despowererving, he could still pose serious problems to Mayweather. Berto's a two-time welterweight champion who -- as his former trainer Tony Morgan said -- has 'natural speed.'" While all three of his losses have come within his past six fights, Berto has won his last two bouts by way of unanimous decision and technical knockout respectively. Berto gets the slight nod over the number two fighter on this list based purely on his record and quality of past opponents.