WBO rejected Joey Spencer, Fundora is looking for a new opponent

The WBO has refused to sanction Joey Spencer as a potential challenger to defend WBC/WBO junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora in his next fight in March.

Spencer refused.

The fact that Spencer (19-1, 11 KOs) was not sanctioned by the World Boxing Organization as an opponent for Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KOs) is not a shock because he is not listed in the top 15. The four sanction bodies at 154. This requires Fundora’s administration to choose one of the highest-ranked competitors in the WBO rankings.

Options

1. Xander Zayas
2. Charles Conwell
3. Josh Kelly
4. Jorge Garcia Perez

Fundora hasn’t fought since upsetting WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tsiu on March 30, 2024. He won’t be good enough to take on Zayas or Conwell, ‘The Towering Inferno’ Fundora, who is coming off a one-year layoff.

A better choice is Josh Kelly. He’s a light puncher and a pretty basic fighter – more of an English domestic fighter than a real contender. 6’6″ Fundora will be an easy task to dominate, hit and have fun hitting on him.

I can’t believe Kelly is in the top 10. How on earth does this guy rank in the top three? It’s more top-50, 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 this week refused to cancel the fight. Their reasoning was that Spence was coming off a 1.5 year layoff, had lost to Terence Crawford, was not ranked in the WBO top 15 and had never fought in the weight class. Those were very good reasons.

Fundora stopped

Fundora needs to fight soon because he has been out of the ring for so long and it is ruining his career. Yes, he’s young enough for that kind of layoff not to hurt him as a great fighter, but his popularity is suffering. He soon returned to the ring and failed to capitalize on his victory over Tsyu.

“The WBO have told me that Joey Spencer cannot challenge current super welterweight champion Sebastian Fundora. This week, the deal to see Fundora vs. Errol Spence officially fell through. #espnkknockout,” Salvador Rodriguez said. X.