Terence Crawford’s pursuit of third undisputed world title gets easier thanks to Errol Spence Jr., who closes in on fighting Sebastian Fundora
Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. have moved up to 154 pounds following their undisputed welterweight title clash in 2023. Both men are in search of more titles and will be taking on respective divisional champions in their super welterweight debuts.
Crawford will face off against the hard-hitting WBA champion Israil Madrimov, whom leading boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has backed to cause an upset by handing 'Bud' his first career defeat.
Spence Jr. will be taking on Sebastian Fundora, the current WBO and WBC champion. Fundora defeated Tim Tszyu in one of the fights of the year to lay claim to the world titles, and despite being ordered by the WBO to fight Crawford in his first defense, he opted to face 'The Truth'.
Crawford has made it clear that he hopes to become the undisputed super welterweight world champion. It appears his bid to do so has been made slightly shorter, thanks to former opponent Spence Jr.
According to BoxingScene, the WBO is planning to strip Fundora if he decides to fight Spence Jr. instead of 'Bud'. The news was reported to X by talkSPORT's boxing editor, Michael Benson, who wrote:
"Sebastian Fundora will reportedly vacate/be stripped of his WBO super welterweight world title if he indeed fights Errol Spence Jr. next rather than Terence Crawford as ordered. It's claimed Fundora vs. Spence Jr. in October would just be for Fundora's WBC [belt], with Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov on Aug 3rd for Madrimov's WBA and vacant WBO [belt]."
See Michael Benson's post below:
Eddie Hearn remains doubtful about Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford
Terence Crawford has previously called for a mega-fight with superstar Canelo Alvarez, but interest in the clash has not been returned by the Mexican, who shut down suggestions for a bout last year.
Despite this, the Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority for Saudi Arabia, Turki Alalshikh has shared his keenness to schedule the fight in the future. Having been responsible for several of boxing's biggest fights in 2024, including Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk, Alalshikh might be the only man in boxing who could get it done.
But Eddie Hearn, one of the sport's leading promoters, recently shared his doubts about the fight happening, saying this:
"It's a fight that when I've spoken to [Alvarez] in the past, he hasn't been mad about. Partly because of the weight class, I don't think he feels like he will get the credit for beating Terence Crawford. I think he's right."
Watch Eddie Hearn's interview below from 31:55: