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WBC President, Mauricio Sulaiman, has approved Floyd's request to defend his 147 and 154lb titles on the same night against Marcos Maidana in their September rematch. This marks the first time since 1988 where two different WBC belts will be on the line in the same fight. The last time was when Sugar Ray Leonard faced off against Donny Lalonde to win the super-middleweight and light-heavyweight title.
This is also the latest move by the WBC to bend over backwards for Mayweather. The fact that this means Maidana could potentially win the 154lb title while fighting at 147lbs is completely atrocious. Sulaiman spewed some garbage in rationalizing this decision by saying that because there's currently no mandatory challenger at 147 and 154, that no other boxer would be hurt by this decision. Try telling that to the likes of Canelo Alvarez, who would've otherwise been in line to fight for the vacant 154lb title if Floyd decided to stay at 147 (which he essentially has). Sulaiman also mentioned some crap about how this decision allows them to show their loyalty to Mayweather, whom they feel has always been loyal to the WBC in return.
Why a sanctioning body would need to show any kind of 'loyalty' to a particular fighter just boggles the mind, and screams out conflict of interest, but such is boxing. What's more is that the very same request could be currently pending with the WBA, which would potentialy put a total of four belts on the line across two different weight classes.
Don't even get me started on what this means for the kind of gloves that Maidana will be allowed to use for this fight. 8-ounce gloves? 10-ounce gloves? Everlast MX or Powerlock? I'm completely in over my head.