By: Sean Crose
ESPN is reporting that former welterweight titlist Errol Spence is returning to the ring this coming October to face Sebastian Fundora for Fundora’s WBC junior middleweight title. It will be Spence’s first fight above the welterweight limit. Even more important, it will be Spence’s first fight since taking a terrible beating at the gloved fists of Terence Crawford in a 2023 superfight. So dominant was Crawford on that July night that there are those who have wondered aloud if Spence could possibly make a successful ring return. Spence at least clearly thinks it’s worth the shot.
In truth the defeat to Crawford was the only loss Spence has ever suffered in the ring. Indeed, before the Crawford fight, Spence had defeated Kell Brook, Amir Khan, Chris Algieri, Danny Garcia, Shawn Porter and Mikey Garcia among others. Those who claim Spence was overrated before the Crawford match are either being dismissive of Crawford’s incredible skill set, or are simply wanting to hop on an “I told you so” bandwagon. It’s worth remembering that the Spence-Crawford bout was largely seen as a pick ’em fight before the opening bell rang.
With all that being said, Crawford will certainly have much to prove when he slips in between the ropes to face Fundora in the fall. Fundura, after all, recently won a war against Tim Tszyu. What’s more, at 26 years of age and over six and a half inches in height he’s taller and younger than the 34 year old, five foot nine inch former titlist. On top of that, Fundora showed against Tszyu that he’s unafraid to fight through a war in order to win. The match against the gutsy Spence, should it come to fruition, is interesting on the surface of things at least.
Should Spence look good in his ring return, there may well be a great many opportunities that await him. Should he 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 – as well as a great deal to win. Aside from his disastrous outing against Crawford, this may be the biggest single fight in Spence’s life.
As for Fundora, this is clearly the most notable fight of his career to date. His win against Tszyu was massive. A win over the returning Spence might be bigger still.