Katie Taylor may be forced to give up one of her prized world title belts

On Saturday night, Taylor became only the third boxer in the four-belt era to become an undisputed two-weight champion.

But the World Boxing Organisation, one of the four sanctioning bodies in the sport, has given her a December 5 deadline to decide whether to retain the super lightweight (known as the junior welterweight title in the United States) or the lightweight world belt.

Under the rules of the US-headquartered organisation, no WBO champion can hold its titles in more than one weight division at a time.

The Bray fighter has encountered this issue before.

In November 2019, she beat Christina Linardatou to win the WBO super lightweight belt in her first fight in the 140-pound division.

She already held the WBO lightweight belt and immediately vacated the 140-pound belt and continued operating in the lightweight division until her first fight against Chantelle Cameron last May.

The WBO wasted no time in reminding the Taylor camp of their obligations. In a letter sent Monday to promoter Eddie Hearn, WBO championship committee chairman Luis Batista-Sales pointed out that Taylor-Cameron II fight was sanctioned subject to specific provisions that he detailed.

“If Katie Taylor wins the bout against Cameron, she has up to 10 days thereafter to determine which weight division she will retain. Failure to comply with such conditions will result in the Committee proceeding per WBO Regulations of World Championship Contests.

“Consequently, in light of the foregoing, Katie Taylor must decide within the timeframe provided in the referenced provision which weight division she will retain, either the Lightweight or Jr. Welterweight division,” stated the letter, which has been published on the WBO website.

The regulation referred to in the letter is the rule stating that no WBO champion can hold titles in more than one weight division at any one time.

Essentially, the Taylor camp must decide by December 5 whether Katie continues her career at super lightweight or reverts to being a lightweight in terms of her WBO title status.

The decision has implications in terms of who Taylor’s next opponent will be. In the event of her next fight being against Chantelle Cameron, it is likely to will opt for the 140 division, but if it is a rematch against Amanda Serrano, it would be advantageous from a marketing point of view to revert to 135 pound.

Matchroom will probably attempt to negotiate with the WBO in the hope of persuading them to extend the December 5 deadline.