The WBO has refused to sanction Joey Spencer as a potential challenger for WBC/WBO junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora to defend against in his next fight in March.
Spencer rejected
It is not a shock that Spencer (19-1, 11 KOs) is not sanctioned by the World Boxing Organization as an opponent for Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KOs) as he is not ranked in the top 15 by any of the four sanctioning bodies at 154. This makes Fundora’s management one of the highest ranked contenders in the WBO’s ranking.
Options
1. Xander Zayas
2. Charles Conwell
3. Josh Kelly
4. Jorge Garcia Perez
Fundora has not fought since upsetting WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu on March 30, 2024. It wouldn’t be ideal for ‘The Towering Inferno’ Fundora to face Zayas or Conwell, who is coming off a lengthy one-year layoff.
A better choice would be Josh Kelly. He is a light puncher and a fairly basic fighter – more of a British domestic level fighter than a true contender. He will be easy for the 6’6″ Fundora to dominate, beat and have a fun time that can have him whipping.
I can’t believe Kelly is ranked in the top 10. How on earth is this guy in the top three? He’s more top-50 material, but he’d be perfect for Fundora right now.
Fundora, 27, was in talks to defend against Errol Spence in March, but the World Boxing Organization this week refused to sanction the fight. Their reasoning was that Spence was coming off a 1.5 year layoff, a knockout loss to Terence Crawford, unranked in the WBO’s top 15, and had never fought in the weight class. Those were pretty good reasons.
Fundora is stuck
Fundora needs to fight soon because he’s been out of the ring for too long, and he’s wasting his career. Yes, he’s young enough for that kind of dismissal to not hurt him like an older fighter, but his popularity suffers. He was unable to capitalize on his win over Tszyu by returning to the ring shortly after.
“They tell me that the WBO has refused to endorse Joey Spencer as a potential challenger to current Super Welterweight champion Sebastián Fundora for next March. This week, negotiations for Fundora against Errol Spence officially broke down. #espnknockout,” said Salvador Rodriguez X.
