WBO president Paco Valcarcel reports that he has ordered a fight between super welterweights Terence Crawford, 41-0 (31 KOs), and Sebastian Fundora, 21-1-1 (13 KOs).
While the 6-foot-6 great Fundora is relishing the prospect, fans wouldn’t bet much on the chances of this fight happening.
Crawford is the WBA and WBO interim champion, while Fundora is the WBC and WBO champion.
An association-ordered fight has the effect of an obligation for the champion, while the challenger is at no such obligation.
Thus, here, it would be up to Fundora, who would accept willingly since that would be his most interesting and lucrative option.
While that may be the case, Crawford is in a position where nobody can force him to do anything, so taking the interim WBO title away from him is not going to change his status.
Both Crawford and Fundora have shown enthusiasm for the fight, as the former is excited to defend his title in a bid to further cement his legacy, while the latter sees this as an opportunity to prove himself against one of the elites in the sport.
As the boxing world gears up for this mammoth clash, the only question which everyone would ask is: who reigns supreme in what is presumably an unforgettable fight?
The current pound-for-pound No. 1 has his sights set on a fight with unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs), who faces Edgar Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) on Sept. 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Then there’s the fact that Crawford is promoted by the loaded Saudi group Turki Alalshikh.
Alvarez refused to discuss a potential Crawford fight because he has another bout, against Daniel Jacobs, scheduled for May 4.
But as long as Crawford has even a glimmer of hope at getting in the ring with the Mexican star, nobody is going to make him pay attention to anything else.
