Terence Crawford has made way for new stars to take over his former divisions following his retirement. The next 18 months are set to be telling as boxing discovers its new pound-for-pound contenders.
Crawford claimed the undisputed super-lightweight world title when he defeated Julius Indongo back in 2017. He replicated the feat up at welterweight six years later with a dominant triumph over Errol Spence Jr.
Crawford then stepped up to super-welterweight, where he dethroned Israil Madrimov upon his 154lb debut to claim the WBA world title, before a shocking jump up to super-middleweight.
Up at 168lbs, Crawford registered a legacy-defining triumph over then undisputed ruler Canelo Alvarez. Soon afterwards his retirement was announced, leaving the super-middleweight titles fragmented.
Fundora Praised Amidst Welterweight Contenders
Now, at super-welterweight, it appears as though the champions are ready and willing to fight both the top contenders and one another. Xander Zayas recently became boxing’s youngest unified world champion and then signing for a fight with Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis.
However, on social media, Crawford highlighted the quality of a different super-welterweight world champion. He believes that nobody in the division is capable of defeating WBC titleholder Sebastian Fundora.
Fundora returned to action last month, claiming a dominant stoppage victory over Keith Thurman to retain his WBC title, and it will certainly be a tough ask for anybody to defeat him.
Fundora’s Height an Advantage
Remarkably, despite fighting six weight divisions (including bridgerweight) below heavyweight, the appropriately nicknamed ‘Towering Inferno’ is boxing’s tallest active world champion. Fundora boasts a 6’5” frame that has proven difficult for his super-welterweight rivals to overcome.
Intriguing future fights include a unification with the winner of Zayas and ‘Boots’.