In what could be a pointless, symbolic move, the WBO has officially ordered the newly crowned WBC/WBO junior middleweight champion, Sebastian Fundora, to defend against the WBO’s mandatory Terence Crawford next.
The two have until April 24th to bang out a deal before a purse bid. Unfortunately, Crawford vs. Fundora is already dead on arrival, and there is no chance of it happening.
Fundora’s promoter Sampson Lewkowicz has already let the cat out of the bag, saying they want Errol Spence Jr. next, NOT Crawford. Lewkowicz views Spence, the more proven commodity, as the bigger fight than Crawford, who has a history of PPV failures.
As Lewkowicz points out, a fight between Fundora and Spence can draw 90,000 fans at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas. Staging a fight in Crawford’s hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, wouldn’t bring in anywhere near those numbers.
Crawford vs. Josh Kelly: A PPV Disaster in the Making
As such, the WBO may need to start planning to order the next fight between Crawford and #1 Josh Kelly for the soon-to-be-vacated title.
The big question is whether Crawford will still be interested in fighting for the WBO belt once Fundora no longer holds it. Crawford vs. Kelly has zero appeal with boxing fans, not even in the UK.
If this fight happens, you must feel sorry for whichever promoter is foolish enough to give Crawford a guaranteed purse for this albatross-level clash because they will bleed money and regret their decision.
It’ll be interesting if Crawford chooses to still fight for the WBO belt once it becomes vacant because he would have far more opportunities to make better money by fighting Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis or moving up to 168 to run the gauntlet against David Benavidez, David Morrell Jr., and Caleb Plant to earn a massive retirement payday fight against Canelo Alvarez.
BoMac’s Bad Call: Dissing Ennis is Delusional
We heard Crawford’s trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre dismissing a fight against Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis recently, saying he brings “Nothing to the table.” Well, what does he think Josh Kelly will bring to the table?
It would be clear that Crawford ducked Boots for fear of losing if he chooses to fight Josh Kelly, because that fight brings nothing in terms of money.
That fight ain’t going to sell with the U.S boxing fans on PPV, and the Brits aren’t going to want to waste their money watching Kelly get destroyed by Crawford. Former Crawford victim David Avanesyan already knocked Kelly out.