Fundora Must Fight Crawford Next or Relinquish WBO Belt, Official Says
May 24, 2024 • 10:03 PM ET
With its new junior middleweight titleholder Sebastian Fundora choosing to fight former welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr., the WBO championship committee will gather next week to make Fundora’s options clear.
If Fundora wants to fight Spence next, he will need to relinquish his WBO belt or have it stripped. A boxing official familiar with the situation told BoxingScene on Friday that Fundora is obligated to next fight unbeaten WBO “super” champion Terence Crawford, who will fight WBA junior middleweight titleholder Israil Madrimov on Aug. 3 atop a stacked card in Los Angeles.
If Fundora fails to agree to next fight Crawford, the committee will convert Crawford-Madrimov to a WBO title bout, the official said.
Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) is in the driver’s seat in this scenario. Not only can he become a four-division and unified champion by winning the 154-pound belt, but he will also be free to pursue a bout with Saul "Canelo" Alvarez later in 2024 or early 2025 and not lose his 154-pound belt.
“[Crawford] will be afforded that privilege,” the official said.
Lance Pugmire has been a full-time boxing writer for nearly 20 years, serving now as BoxingScene’s U.S. Senior Writer and assistant producer for ProBoxTV’s “BoxingScene Today.” Pugmire capped a near 20-year career at the Los Angeles Times (sports investigations, NHL/MLB beat work, law enforcement/courts and boxing/UFC) to join The Athletic, and then USA Today. Pugmire’s stint at The Times started with the first Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez fight and the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jnr then-record pay-per-view, leading through a slew of ringside assignments at major bouts, including Mayweather-Pacquiao, Mayweather-Canelo and the Canelo-Golovkin trilogy. Lance’s appreciation for boxing is rooted in his admiration and appreciation for the fighters, gladiators who have proven to be the most forthcoming and candid of all the athletes he has interviewed over a career dating to 1990. Lance was honored to be named the 2022 winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence and he’s collected many BWAA writing awards in categories ranging from breaking news to deep-dive long features.
