Former unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. is expected to return from his long layoff in early 2025 and challenge WBC and WBO junior middleweight champion Sebastian ‘The Towering Inferno’ Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KOs) for one or both of his titles. The fight has yet to be announced by the PBC, but it’s expected to soon.
It will be a tough fight for Spence to move up to 154 to take on the much younger 26-year-old Fundora, who will have a huge height and reach advantage over him. The 6’5 3/4″ Fundora has wins over Tim Tszyu, Erickson Lubin, and Carlos Ocampo. His height and youth could be a nightmare for Spence, who looked shot in his loss to Terence Crawford.
Ring Rust
Given Spence’s layoff and recent performances, it’s not likely to end well for him against Fundora. It’s unclear whether Errol’s motivation for taking this fight without a tuneup is just for money or what. It could be just a cash out for Spence to get one last payday before retiring.
Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) hasn’t fought in 16 months, 3 weeks since his ninth-round knockout loss to Terence Crawford on July 29, 2023. It will be a bad look on the WBC and WBO’s part to allow Spence to fight for their belts, coming off a long layoff, a brutal knockout.
If the Fundora-Spence fight does occur in the first quarter of 2025, it will be interesting to see how Spence looks. He’s had repeated long layoffs since 2020, fighting only three times in four years.
His last two performances against Crawford and Yordenus Ugas were lackluster. That’s not surprising, given the injuries from his 2019 car crash in Dallas, Texas, weight problems, and natural aging. Like a lot of fighters that make millions, the motivation to keep busy drops off, and they spend less and less time in the ring.
If Spence had shown some initiative, he could have come back and beaten one or two of the top contenders at junior middleweight.
Spence is ranked #1 with the WBC but not at all with the WBO. They’ll have to agree to allow Errol to fight for their belt. If not, it could fall vacant, likely resulting in WBO interim champion Crawford being moved up to full belt champ. That might not be a good thing for the WBO because it’s questionable whether Crawford will ever fight again at 154. He’s dialed in for the Canelo Alvarez fight.
