In a follow-up to the recent report that Manny Pacquiao had been named the WBC's number one contender at welterweight, the WBC has declared that its welterweight champion, Floyd Mayweather, is in a "voluntary stage" and his mandatory will not be discussed for a while by the WBC Board of Governors.

World Boxing News communicated with WBC stand-in chief Maurcio Sulaiman who had this to say on the matter:

"The new ratings have been released with Pacquiao at number one, but the welterweight division is now in a voluntary stage and the topic of the mandatory will not be addressed for a few months by the WBC board of governors."

In other words, the mandatory will not be enforced for Mayweather's upcoming fight on May 3. Not that any of us expected it to be, but at least the WBC is being upfront about it. However, the real question is what happens after they both fight in the spring, assuming each man wins. Will the WBC actually enforce it?

Also, just one thing to keep in mind. If Pacquiao fights and beats Timothy Bradley he would regain the WBO belt which would, in turn, eliminate him from the WBC rankings. So I guess if you have any sort of hope that this WBC ranking will help make the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight a reality, don't pray for him to face Bradley in April.