WBO Orders Negotiations Between Sebastian Fundora & Terence Crawford

Sebastian Fundora is less than 48 hours removed from the biggest win of his career against Tim Tszyu and has already been ordered to negotiate his next fight. The WBO has ordered negotiations to begin between Fundora and unified welterweight champion Terence Crawford.

In a letter sent to both fighters’ representatives, the WBO officially notified them to start the negotiation period. Here is an excerpt from that letter.

“Therefore, in light of the above and per WBO Regulations of World Championship Contests, the parties are hereby ordered to commence negotiations for the WBO Mandatory Jr. Middleweight Championship per the following terms and conditions (i) the camps are granted 20 days to negotiate and reach an agreement as ordered; (ii) the 20 day negotiation period shall trigger on Friday, April 5, 2024; (iii) Failure to reach an accord within the period outlined herein, will result in the Committee ordering purse bid proceedings pursuant to WBO Regulations of World Championship Contests. The minimum bid for the Jr. Middleweight Division is $200,000 (Two Hundred Thousand Dollars). Any of the parties involved may request a purse bid proceedings at any time during the negotiation process.”

Looks like the WBO will force Fundora and his team to decide on his next fight within the next 20 days. On Saturday night, during the post-fight interview, former unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr climbed into the ring and said he wanted a shot at Fundora next. Crawford, who was watching the fight, posted on X that Spence needed to work his way back up, but Spence later responded that he doesn’t do lines. This makes for an interesting scenario, Fundora, as Tszyu also has a rematch clause. There are three potential fights for Fundora, but they will all come with some sort of cost with regard to being potentially stripped of his titles. Which fight does Fundora take next? We will likely find out within the next 30 days.

Abraham Gonzalez

Abraham Gonzalez is the founder of FightsATW. His journalistic work has been published and used across several platforms to include online, network TV and promotional companies. He is an American Public University alumnus and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). Abraham was the Managing Editor for NYFights, Big Fight Weekend, contributed to FanSidedMMA and ProBoxTV.

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