Phil D. Jay
WBN Editor
The green belt would then go to the winner of
the November 24 fight between Guerrero and former champion Andre Berto - as
Guerrero came through number one contender Aydin in July on points.
WBN Editor
Interim belt manufactured for Guerrero v Aydin clash
WBC President Jose Sulaiman has revealed his reasons to WBN
why Floyd Mayweather was allowed to retain his welterweight title, even when
facing a two-month prison sentence earlier this year.
Some in the sport, including myself, automatically thought
that the pound for pound king would be stripped of his title as he served his
time at Clark County Detention Centre from June 1st to August 3rd, which failed to materialize.
As mandatory challengers Selcuk Aydin and Robert Guerrero
waited in the wings, Sulaiman took a different route and created an interim
title, which the WBC only use in exceptional circumstances, in order to keep
Mayweather as champion.
“The WBC has not had an interim champion for a couple of
years at least, but we were committed to do it with Guerrero because Floyd
Mayweather went to jail and Aydin had been waiting for a longer time than the
rules call for,” Sulaiman told World Boxing News.
“Also, we didn't want to make our champion Floyd, believe
that we were leaving him without our support when he has been one of the most loyal
WBC champions since his very first of the five titles that he has won.
“We have kept the interim championship only for an extreme
case when there is proven evidence that a champion is not able to fight within
six months,” he explained.
Two-weight title holder Mayweather, 35, has until early
December to declare his intentions to the WBC or at least make an appearance at
the upcoming convention in Cancun if he wants to avoid losing the 147lb title.