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

spencer refuses

Spence (19 wins, 1 loss, 11 KOs) is not recognized by the World Boxing Organization as an opponent for Fundola (21 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss, 13 KOs), which is not surprising as he is not ranked in either ranking Neither entered the top 15. The ranking among the four sanctioning bodies is 154. This leaves Fundora’s management to pick one of the top contenders in the WBO rankings.

Options

1. Sander Zayas
2. Charles Cornwell
3. Josh Kelly
4. Jorge Garcia Perez

Fundora has not competed since defeating WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu on March 30, 2024. For “The Towering Inferno” Fundora, taking on Zayas or Conwell, who is coming off a year-long offseason, wouldn’t be ideal.

A better choice would be Josh Kelly. He was a light boxer and a fairly basic boxer – more of a British domestic level boxer than a real contender. It was easy for the 6-foot-6 Fundola to dominate, beat, and enjoy whipping him.

I can’t believe Kelly is in the top ten. How on earth did this guy rank in the top three? He’s better suited for the top 50, but he’s a perfect fit for Fundora right now.

Fundola, 27, had been in talks to fight Errol Spence in March, but the World Boxing Organization refused to sanction the fight this week. Their reasoning is that Spence is coming off a 1.5-year layoff, was knocked out by Terrence Crawford, is not ranked in the WBO top 15, and has never competed at heavyweight. These are all good reasons.

Fundora stalls

Fundora has to get in the fight soon because he’s been out of the ring for too long and he’s messing up his career. Yes, he’s still young and a cut like this won’t hurt him as much as it would a veteran, but his popularity is taking a hit. He failed to capitalize on his victory over Tsyu and quickly returned to the ring.

“They told me that the WBO refuses to endorse Joey Spencer as a potential challenger to current super welterweight champion Sebastian Fundora next March. This week, Fundora is fighting Errol Spencer negotiations are officially broken #espnknockout,” Salvador Rodriguez said. X.