The fight between WBC/WBO junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora and Errol Spence is now off. Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KOs) is reportedly looking for another opponent, possibly contender Charles Conwell, to defend his two 154-lb titles.
World Boxing Organization president Gustavo Olivieri, Esq. revealed that his organization couldn’t sanction the Fundora-Spence fight due to the four reasons below:
WBO’s Explains Spence Rejection
- Spence inactive for 18 months
- Loss to Crawford in his last fight
- Not ranked in WBO’s rankings
- He never fought at 154
WBO interim champion Terence Crawford posted a cryptic Tweet tonight, which appeared to be directed at Fundora. He said that he should have fought him when he had the chance.
“Should have taken the fight when you had the chance; now it’s over with,” said Crawford.
Bud is now expected to fight Canelo Alvarez for a giant payday in September and doesn’t need or seemingly want the fight against Fundora now. Besides, it would be a risky one for the soon-to-be 38-year-old Crawford. So, that’s another reason for him not to take the fight with ‘The Towering Inferno’ Fundora and play it off like he missed his chance.
Crawford needs a tune-up and should fight Fundora, but he likely doesn’t want to risk losing or getting beaten like Tim Tszyu did, which would have ruined his cash-out fight against Canelo in September.
Boxing fans don’t care much about the Fundora vs. Spence fight being off because it was never interesting. The 35-year-old Spence is completely washed up, coming off a ninth-round knockout loss to Crawford on July 29, 2023, and he looked terrible before that a year earlier, struggling to defeat Yordenis Ugas by a tenth-round knockout in a grueling battle on April 16, 2022.
The WBO would not sanction Fundora/Spence due to the latter being (1) inactive for 1 year & 5 months; (2) a TKO loss in last bout; (3) not rated in 154 lbs., & 4) has never fought in 154 lbs. Ruling otherwise would be a disservice to the rest of the 154 world-rated contenders. https://t.co/R2VgVXAi9V
— Gustavo Olivieri, Esq. (@OlivieriLaw) January 16, 2025
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