By Miguel Rivera

The World Boxing Council has finally issued a ruling on Floyd Mayweather Jr. (49-0, 26KOs), who holds the WBC championship at welterweight and junior middleweight.

Mayweather has been given the status of WBC Champion Emeritus.

The announcement was made by WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman at the sanctioning organization's 53rd annual convention in Kunming, China.

Mayweather retired from boxing on September 12th, after winning a twelve round unanimous decision over Andre Berto at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The status of Champion Emeritus grants Mayweather the ability to get an immediate title shot at the current WBC titleholder at 147 or 154.

The exact situation related to Mayweather's old titles at 147 and 154 has not been disclosed at the moment. The sanctioning body is expected to order the two highest available contenders in each division to fight each other for the vacant belts.

Unified middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin was present at the ceremony and gave some choice words with praise for the WBC.

Sulaiman also took the opportunity to deliver some awards, including the "Lifetime Achievement Award" to Mayweather for capturing WBC world titles in five different weight divisions.