Reports have surfaced of American WBA and WBO interim super welterweight champion Terence Crawford stepping aside to allow Sebastian Fundora to voluntarily defend his WBO title against an unknown opponent―suspected to be Errol Spence Jr. Today was supposed to herald in purse bid proceedings after the WBO extended their deadline for the two fighters’ parties to reach an agreement for their mandated bout. Despite these reports, the WBO is expected to respond to this agreement, and is expected to approve or reject it either today [October 10] or later this week.
ESPN’s Mike Coppinger reported yesterday [October 9] that Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KO’s) and Sebastian Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KO’s) that the two fighters had reached an agreement in lieu of the WBO’s mandate for them to fight―but apparently this agreement concerned a step-aside deal1 rather than an actual bout.
“Ahead of tomorrow’s WBO deadline, Terence Crawford and Sebastian Fundora reached a resolution to allow Fundora to proceed with a voluntary defense with the understanding the junior middleweight title unification will be explored afterward, sources told ESPN,” Coppinger stated on Twitter/X. “This paves the way for Fundora to fight Errol Spence in early 2025 as planned, and a Fundora victory would set him up for a much bigger fight with Crawford later in 2025.“
A plan seems set in place for Fundora and Crawford to meet in the ring later in 2025 while Fundora engages with Errol Spence Jr. in early 2025. Spence notably has not fought since his July 29 loss to Crawford in 2023, and no reports have yet emerged on whether he has found a trainer since splitting with former longtime coach Derrick James.
A fight between WBC and WBO super welterweight (154 lbs) champion Sebastian Fundora would make for a supposedly lucrative event, based on previous statemetns made by Sampson Lewkowicz, Fundora’s manager, who indicated that he preferred a fight with Errol Spence Jr. over Crawford due to the latter’s perceived inability to sell fights.
However, with Errol Spence Jr. not currently occupying any position within the WBO’s 154 lbs rankings―due to presumably his inactivity, he would not qualify for the position to challenge Fundora. As the WBO’s rules state, only top 15 contenders can challenge for the title.
As such, there remains a strong possibility the agreement in place will be rejected by the WBO, which can subsequently lead to the rescheduling of the purse bids that were supposed to be held today.
- An agreement where a fighter accepts compensation to temporarily forgo their sanctioning body-mandated bout, allowing another match to occur, often between higher-profile fighters. The sidelined boxer typically retains a future title shot or opportunity. ↩︎
