Fundora vs Spence officially dead

Sebastian Fundora’s long-brewing clash with Errol Spence Jr is dead in the water after more than half a year of finagling

After eight months and two separate deals, Mike Coppinger reports that Sebastian Fundora vs Errol Spence Jr is officially dead.

The euthanasia is long overdue. As WBO president Gustavo Olivieri points out in his reasoning for not sanctioning the bout as a title defense, Spence (28-1, 22 KO) is coming off a one-sided loss, hasn’t fought at 154, and hasn’t fought at all since July of 2023. It would be one thing if Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KO) was a one-belt champion in his voluntary phase, but he’s got two sets of contenders to manage. It’s galling to see nearly a year of his prime wasted on this.

Still funny that Mauricio Sulaiman fell over himself to install Spence at no. 1, though.

Per Coppinger, WBO no. 2 Charles Conwell is in consideration to welcome Fundora back to the ring. Terence Crawford is technically next in line by virtue of having the WBO interim title, but recent rumblings indicate he’s chasing Canelo instead. I wouldn’t complain; Conwell’s a solid operator who’s been spinning his wheels for ages. All signs point to a banger.

Another option could be Serhii Bohachuk, whom Fundora was slated to battle before stepping up on short notice to topple Tim Tszyu. Bohachuk’s last win over late replacement Ishmael Davis was technically a WBC eliminator, though Sulaiman has always played fast and loose with contender queues. No telling whether Bohachuk or the winner of Vergil Ortiz Jr vs Israil Madrimov for the interim belt will be “next in line.”