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Ignoring Sebastian Fundora Is “Beyond Disrespectful”: Mayweather Promotions’ CEO Amid Terence Crawford vs. Tim Tszyu Fight Talks

Published 03/26/2024, 10:33 PM EDT

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Tim Tszyu has a title fight lined up this weekend. Earlier, he had a catchweight fight with Keith Thurman scheduled for March 31. However, the latter had to back out on account of sparring-related injuries. In his place came former interim light middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora. Now the fight will be for Tszyu’s WBO belt and the vacant WBC title. However, a parallel development has unfolded. Unified welterweight champion Terence Crawford seems to have put up an appeal to raise him as the mandatory challenger to Tim Tszyu’s WBO title.

Increasing reports have revealed that talks are underway to set up a fight between the two champions. However, in certain quarters, the match-up, it seems, is being looked at with a pinch of salt. After all, the whole idea of the Tszyu-Crawford fight rests on the presumption that ‘The Soul Taker’ would easily get past the Fundora conundrum. But what if ‘The Towering Inferno’ turns the tables on Tszyu? So aren’t the team apparatchiks getting a bit ahead of themselves? asked Leonard Ellerbe. In a tweet, Mayweather Promotions’ CEO rather read a straight-lined riot act.

So probably that could be the reason why Leonard Ellerbe tagged the day before yesterday’s news. Tim Tszyu’s manager, Glen Jennings, shared an update on the Crawford fight. He seems to hold the belief that the unfolding events exude nothing short of impertinence. “Imo, this is beyond disrespectful,” he said, adding that probably teams are paying no heed to Sebastian Fundora’s boxing prowess.

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Perhaps, he opined, the teams are assuming that fighting the 6-foot-5-inch-tall Sebastian Fundora would be akin to a walk in the park. “To overlook an opponent but yet someone of @SebastianFundo1 caliber, clearly they must think [Fundora] is easy work,” said the CEO of Mayweather Promotions.

Rather, he believes that on Saturday night, fans might witness a full-blown slugfest between Tim Tszyu and Sebastian Fundora. He said, “Expect nothing but fireworks this Saturday night from both men.” Then, tagging both PBC and TGB promotions, Ellerbe asked, “Will Sebastian fk up their plans?

Leonard Ellerbe With Cautious Optimism

A few days ago, he was speaking with FightHype about Fundora’s chances. So Ellerbe reportedly said, “He has a good chance. Yeah, I think right now, in my opinion, 50-50 fight you know he brings something different to the table.” Like many, he also espoused that this fight may appear better than the Thurman fight.

However, he tipped the scale in Terence Crawford’s favor in a fight with Tim Tszyu. Provided the Australian champion makes it through on March 31.

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The news of a potential clash between the champions would have already electrified most die-hards. However, as Leonard Ellerbe posited, Sebastian Fundora can spin a surprise at the T-Mobile Arena. Then whether the teams Crawford and Tszyu would still proceed with a fight with no title in line, time alone will tell.

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Do you find yourself agreeing with Ellerbe? Please share your views with us in the comments below.

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Written by:

Jaideep R Unnithan

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One take at a time

Jaideep Unnithan is a senior boxing author at EssentiallySports. Inching towards the milestone of over 2000 articles, he has been a chronicler of day-to-day developments happening inside and outside of the squared circle. Having a keen eye on the punches traded inside the ring, he has written opinion pieces on the fighting styles of Floyd Mayweather Jr, David Benavidez, and Terence Crawford.
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Edited by:

Arijit Saha