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Fundora promoter believes Kelly fight will be made, suggests appealing date
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Fundora promoter believes Kelly fight will be made, suggests appealing date
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2 hrs ago
2 hrs ago
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Sebastian Fundora isn’t wasting any time zeroing in on his next test.
Less than a week after stopping Keith Thurman, the WBC junior middleweight champion Fundora (24-1-1, 16 KOs) immediately stepped into negotiations for a title unification fight against IBF title holder Josh Kelly.
“I believe this fight will be made,” Fundora promoter Sampson Lewkowicz told The Ring. “It depends on where it will be and the strength of the offer. It's a great fight for the fighters, to unify the titles, and the fans across the US and UK, too.”
Lewkowicz said he’s leaving the negotiations to be handled by confidant Luis DeCubas Jr. and Kelly's promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, who last week confirmed the two sides were in preliminary discussions.
If the fight were to take place in the UK, Lewkowicz even lobbied for the idea to have it scheduled for June 27, the same day that WBA and WBO champion Xander Zayas is set to defend his titles against Jaron Ennis in New York.
“It would be unbelievable if that could happen,” said Lewkowicz. “It will be like a tournament featuring four of the top 154-pounders in the world, and the winners can fight for the undisputed championship afterward. It will be best if this happens. It can be historical, but we’ll see.”
Lewkowicz also offered his prediction on how he sees the bout between Zayas (23-0, 13 KOs) and Ennis (35-0, 31 KOs) playing out when they square off at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center to headline a DAZN PPV.
“Zayas definitely deserves credit for taking the fight against Ennis,” said Lewkowicz. “He's smart, has good movement and could create problems, but I believe Ennis will win in a very competitive fight, most likely by knockout. Ennis is the second-best junior middleweight in the world, but no one can beat Sebastian at this moment.”
Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan.
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