By Craig Page: Errol Spence is rumored to be training to move up to 154 to take on WBC interim junior middleweight champion Sebastian ‘The Towering Inferno’ Fundora.
That would be a bold move on Spence’s part but also insanely foolish because there would be no upside in facing Fundora. Also, a lot of things could go wrong for Spence against the tall junior middleweight interim champion.
We saw what Fundora did to the eye of Erickson ‘The Hammer’ Lubin, and he could do the same thing to Spence. With Spence’s recent eye surgery, it’s not a good idea for him to face a fighter with a high punch output like Sebastian Fundora.
Fighting Fundora would be a mistake for Spence because he would be dealing with a lot of height, reach and firepower from the lanky 154-pounder.
Putting on a lot of weight wouldn’t be an issue for Spence if he intended on staying at 154, but that won’t be the case.
Spence still wants to fight WBO welterweight champion Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford for the undisputed championship after the two fighters win their next contests.
Spence’s recent comment about how he’s going to “spin the block” suggests that he will take a tune-up and then return to the negotiation tables to resume hammering out a deal to fight Crawford.
Spence new training video
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bwhtw7zx_jg
It’s going to be difficult for Spence to shoot up to 154 to take on the 6’6″ Sebastian Fundora and then return to 147 for the Crawford fight. Also, the Fundora fight would be much more taxing for Spence than Crawford’s mismatch with David Avanesyan on December 10th on BLK Prime PPV.
Fundora will put some age on Spence, forcing him into a war every bit as difficult on paper as his last one against Yordenis Ugas last April. Spence was hurt by Ugas and was lucky to make it through the fight without getting knocked out.
It had been reported that Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) was planning on defending his IBF, WBA & WBC welterweight titles against Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman on December 17th on SHOWTIME pay-per-view, but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.
With Showtime announcing last Saturday night that they will be broadcasting the lightweight clash between Michel Rivera and Frank Martin on December 17th as the headliner, that suggests that Spence won’t be fighting Thurman on that date as previously reported.
If it were, Thurman would have already let it slip and blabbed it to the media. Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs) is not the type to keep quiet when he’s about to fight a big name.
“Spence beats him,” said Abel Sanchez to KO Artists Sports when asked about his thoughts on a potential Spence vs. Thurman fight. “Thurman, for me, had a great beginning to his career, but for some reason, he hasn’t lived up to expectations.
“Spence stops him. Spence is a better finisher than Thurman. Thurman, when he gets those big fights like that, he doesn’t live up to the expectations.”