On record, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is officially retired. All that was made official last September when Mayweather fought Andre Berto and expectedly won via unanimous decision.
That fight allowed the American boxer to match the 49-0 record of boxing great Rocky Marciano, though there are people who have varying opinions on how he was able to achieve the feat. Apparently, this had to do with the alleged cherry-picking of his opponents, not to mention the timely manner to which he faced high-profile opponents.
Two names that come into mind are Canelo Alvarez and Manny Pacquiao, two popular boxers who boxing critics felt were fought at the wrong time.
Despite some still holding out belief that Mayweather could decide to return soon, the WBA has no intention of waiting for such. In fact, they plan to clean up shop by officially removing the WBA belts from Mayweather and rightfully proclaiming the boxers who currently hold them.
At the moment, Mayweather is still the "super" champion for WBA welterweight and junior middleweight division but all that will be straightened out.
Erislandy Lara is likely to be declared the official "super" champion for the WBA junior middleweight division while Keith Thurman will be the new "super" champion for the WBA welterweight division. Once that happens, there would be movement in the regular champions mix as well.
Once Lara and Thurman move up, taking their places are Jack Culcay as regular WBA junior middleweight champion while David Avanseyan will be the new "regular" WBA welterweight champion.
The planned moves were first reported by ESPN Deportes during an interview with WBA president Gilberto Mendoza Jr. The WBC had already done such on their part during the sanctioning body's year-end convention.
Mayweather has been more active in the news lately by laying criticism on various topics with no hint of possible plans of returning to the ring in the near future.
