The WBO has refused to sanction Joey Spencer as a potential challenger to WBC/WBO junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora to defend against in his next fight in March.
Spencer Denied
It’s no shock that Spencer (19-1, 11 KO) is not sanctioned by the World Boxing Organization as an opponent for Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KO) as he is not ranked in the top 15 by any of the four sanctioning bodies at 154. That leaves Fundora’s management that he must choose one of the highly ranked candidates in the WBO ranking.
Possibilities
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 would not be ideal for ‘The Towering Inferno’ Fundora to face Zayas or Conwell, who is coming off a long year-long layoff.
A better choice would be Josh Kelly. He is a light fighter and a fairly basic fighter – more of a British home fighter than a true competitor. It would be easy work for the 6’6″ Fundora to dominate, win and have fun whipping him.
I can’t believe Kelly is ranked in the top 10. How in the world is this guy ranked in the top three? He’s more top-50 material, but would be perfect for Fundora right now.
Fundora, 27, was in talks to defend against Errol Spence in March, but the World Boxing Organization refused to sanction the fight this week. Their rationale was that Spence was coming off a 1.5 year layoff, a knockout loss to Terence Crawford, who was not in the top 15 of the WBO, and had never fought in the weight class. They were pretty good reasons.
Fundora paused
Fundora has to fight soon because he has been out of the ring for too long and is ruining his career. Yes, he’s young enough that that kind of break wouldn’t hurt him as an older fighter, but his popularity is suffering. He failed to capitalize on his victory over Tszyu by returning to the ring shortly after.
“I have been told that the WBO has refused to endorse Joey Spencer as a potential challenger to the current super welterweight champion, Sebastián Fundora, for next March. Negotiations to pit Fundora against Errol Spence officially fell through this week. #espnknockout,” said Salvador Rodriguez on X.
