The World Boxing Organization (WBO) has given WBC & WBO super welterweight champion Sebastian Fundora permission to engage in a voluntary defense, thereby temporarily sidestepping his obligation to face WBA & interim WBO 154 lbs champion and mandated opponent Terence Crawford. However, this exception comes with some conditions, mainly that he will have to face a fighter ranked in the top 15 of the WBO’s 154 lbs rankings. A failure to abide by this will result in Fundora being stripped of his WBO title.
The negotiations between Sebastian Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KO’s) and Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KO’s) already went through an extension and was supposed to head towards purse bids last week if the two failed to reach an agreement, but a new deal has been struck. According to the WBO, Crawford will be stepping aside1 to allow Fundora to face a top 15-ranked WBO-ranked super welterweight (154 lbs) contender.
This might actually be fortunate for Crawford as Fundora is widely expected to face Errol Spence Jr., who is currently not ranked in the WBO’s 154 lbs rankings due to his inactivity following his June 29th loss to Crawford. Fighting Errol Spence Jr. would therefore culminate in Fundora losing his WBO title as Spence is unranked, which would naturally allow Crawford to be elevated from his WBO interim status to become world champion.
If Sebastian Fundora were to face a top-15 ranked contender, he would still need to face Terence Crawford afterwards within 180 days [or 6 months] after completing his voluntary fight. A failure to adhere to this obligation would also result in Fundora being stripped of his title.
Despite a potential promotion hanging on the cusp for the 37-year old Terence Crawford, it is unknown whether he is eyeing the winner of Murtazaliev-Tszyu which will see Russian champion Bakhram Murtazaliev (22-0, 16 KO’s) defend his IBF super welterweight title against Australian former WBO 154 lbs champion Tim Tszyu (24-1, 17 KO’s) this week on October 19. Fighting the winner would enable Crawford to fight for the chance to be undisputed against Fundora if he would emerge victorious.
Terence Crawford has also been keenly eyeing a fight with Mexican former undisputed super middleweight (168 lbs) champion Canelo Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KO’s), though Alvarez himself does not appear interested.
Given Crawford’s age and the fact there could only be two to three fights left for him until retirement, there are question marks surrounding his decision to step aside for Fundora. As he was under no obligation to entertain Fundora’s request for a voluntary title defense and could have forced Fundora’s hand to either face him or vacate his WBO title, it remains to be seen whether this is part of a concerted effort to face a relevant opponent.
Most curious will be what Sebastian Fundora decides, as his current unified reign might come to a quick end depending on his chosen opponent. Fundora choosing Spence would further dictate the mentality of modern-day fighters, with a fight with Spence expected to be lucrative but of little challenge to the WBC & WBO champion given Spence will be coming off more than a year inactivity following a gruesome loss.
That decision would further illustrate a relative decline in boxing, as fighting Terence Crawford would be a harder challenge yet significant for Fundora’s career given he would face a pound-for-pound fighter in Crawford―who holds the WBA 154 lbs title―in a unification fight. In comparison, Spence is beltless, has not fought for over a year, has no reported coach to train him yet, has not fought at 154 lbs for several years, and has suffered a crucial loss in his last fight.
- 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. ↩︎
