Sebastian Fundora will next defend his WBC and WBO junior middleweight titles against Errol Spence in early 2025 in Texas.
Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KOs) reached an agreement with mandatory and interim WBO champion Terence Crawford to allow him to defend against Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) next.
If Fundora defeats Spence, he will face Crawford at the WBO later in 2025. A win for Spence would set up a possible rematch with Crawford. That could be a big fight too.
How big is unknown because many boxing fans are not interested in seeing a second fight between Spence and Crawford due to how one-sided their contest was last year, in July 2023. Crawford knocked out Spence in the ninth round in a total – fight apart.
Mike Coppinger broke the news that Fundora will fight Spence next, with Crawford stepping aside to leave that big match.
Fans are excited for Spence to take on Fundora, but it could end badly for the 34-year-old. Fundora, 26, is young, active, in her prime, and 6’6″ tall. This fight could end badly for Spence , who do not believe in taking tuneups.
Spence did nothing to deserve a title shot against WBC and WBO 154-lb champion Fundora. Errol has been sitting for 15 months since the loss to Crawford on July 29, 2023, and it is not fair that he is allowed to jump the line in front of the other contenders in the WBC / WBO rankings to challenge Fundora for the their belts
Spence looked pretty faded in his fight against Crawford, his match against Yordenis Ugas in April 2022, and his bout against Danny Garcia in December 2020, 15 months earlier.
The injuries and the sweet life that Spence has had since 2020 have contributed to a drop in his game. His last three performances have not resembled the way he had fought in 2018 and before.
It’s unclear who Crawford will fight while he waits for the smoke to clear from the Fundora vs. Spence fight. Given Crawford’s 37-year-old age and recent lackluster performance against Israil Madrimov on August 3, he needs to get back in the ring soon against one of the contenders so he doesn’t allow himself to accumulate more rust Crawford has not looked well since a 13-month layoff to challenge Madrimov for his WBA junior middleweight title.
