Terence Crawford will retain his WBO Welterweight Title when he takes on the winner between Tim Tszyu vs. Sebastian Fundora, who face off at 154 pounds. 

The WBO President Paco Valcarcel recently confirmed that Crawford would be mandatory for the winner since he is the WBO Super Champion at 147. That will allow him to fight for the WBO Junior Middleweight and the WBC Junior Middleweight titles.

Tszyu faces Fundora on March 30 in Amazon Prime’s first PPV. The bout will allow Crawford to pursue his desire to become a three-weight undisputed champion by potentially being unified at 154. With the IBF and WBA belts also vacant at 154, Crawford is in a very strong position. 

WBO Reacts

“Terence Crawford is a three-division WBO World Champion and a two-division undisputed world champion. Consequently, he was conferred the privileges and rights per his status as the “WBO Super Champion.”

“And let me clarify that such status is not a title but rather a designation. Therefore, Crawford is the sole, exclusive, and only Welterweight Champion in the WBO. In other words, he does not have another secondary title holder under him (e.g., Regular, Interim, In Recess, etc.).

“The WBO’s policy is one champion per weight division. For guidance purposes, please refer to Section 14 of the WBO Regulations, which governs the “Super Champion” status provisions. Therefore, according to the “Super Champion” rule, Crawford exercised his right to become the mandatory challenger in the division [154 lbs].

“The WBO will sanction Tszyu vs Fundora as a voluntary bout subject to (i) Tszyu/Fundora must agree in writing that the winner will fight Crawford next within 180 days after the bout as an essential condition for sanction approval.

“No, based on Crawford’s merits as a three-division WBO World Champion and two-division undisputed champion, we will allow him to enter the ring and participate as WBO welterweight champion against the winner of Tszyu vs Fundora,” Paco Valcarcel 

Tszyu vs Crawford

Tszyu’s manager, Glen Jennings, has said they are looking to enter talks with Crawford as soon as possible if they are victorious against Fundora.

Tszyu will face a tough task, given the manner of the circumstances. He was on course to face Keith Thurman. However, One Time pulled out of the fight with a bicep injury. Tszyu took the fight with less than two weeks’ notice, showing it was not the best preparation.

The Australian will also face someone who is a southpaw. Fundora is much taller than Tszyu, standing at six foot five. But Fundora was knocked out in his last fight against Brian Mendoza, suffering the first career defeat.

Despite dominating the fight, Mendoza caught him to end the bout. Tszyu can do something similar; his record is 24-0 with 17 KOs. The Australian will no doubt look to target the body. But his team are ready for the challenges ahead.

“So immediately after that fight, when everything becomes official, we’ll go straight into negotiations to see what we can get done. Of course, Tim will also have a WBC mandatory, which clouds the situation somewhat. But obviously, when Crawford comes into play, the entire boxing world sits up and takes notice,” Jennings stated

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