Written by: Sean Crose
ESPN reports that former welterweight champion Errol Spence is returning to the ring next October to face Sebastian Fundora of Fundira’s WBC junior middleweight belt. It will be Spence’s first fight above the welterweight limit. More importantly, it will be Spence’s first fight since crushing Terence Crawford’s fists in the 2023 main event. Crawford was so dominant that July night that some wondered aloud if Spence could successfully return to the ring. Spence at least clearly thinks it’s worth a shot.
In fact the loss to Crawford was the only loss Spence would ever suffer in the ring. Indeed, prior to the Crawford fight, Spence had defeated Kell Brook, Amir Khan, Chris Algieri, Danny Garcia, Shawn Porter and Mike Garcia among others. Those who say Spence is overrated before the Crawford match are either dismissing Crawford’s incredible skill set, or just want to ride the “I told you so” bandwagon. It’s worth remembering that the Spence-Crawford bout was largely seen as a fight of choice before the opening bell rang.
All that being said, Crawford will certainly have a lot to prove when he steps between the ropes to face Fundora in the fall. Fudura, after all, just won a fight against Tim Tszyu. In addition, when he was 26 years old and more than six and a half centimeters tall and thinner than the 34-year-old, the previous list of nine nine meters. In addition, Fundira showed against Tszyu that he is not afraid to fight to win. A match against gutsy Spence, if it ever comes to fruition, is interesting on the face of things at least.
If Spence looks good in his return to the ring, there may be more opportunities waiting for him. If he should look less than impressive against Fundora, however, or worse yet lose, then Spence will clearly be seen as a fighter in decline. In short, the man has a lot to lose against Fundora – and a lot to win. Despite his bad outing against Crawford, this could be the single biggest fight of Spence’s career.
As for Fundira, this is clearly the most notable fight of his career to date. His victory over Tszyu was huge. A win for a returning Spence could be even bigger.
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