Sebastian Fundora vs Josh Kelly Unification in Preliminary Talks
By Eddie Sanchez
Sebastian Fundora’s representatives are in talks with officials connected to fellow junior middleweight world titleholder Josh Kelly, according to sources. This confirms the revealed discussions from Matchroom Boxing head Eddie Hearn, Kelly’s promoter.
Hearn mentioned the talks are preliminary and haven’t touched on open dates or a venue for a unification, though summer or early fall would make sense timeline wise.
Kelly, 32, captured the IBF belt on January 31 by defeating Bakhram Murtazaliev by MD in Newcastle, England, while Fundora, 24-1-1 (16 KO), defended his WBC title for the third time with a sixth-round TKO of former unified welterweight champion Keith Thurman.
WBA/WBO champion Xander Zayas announced this week he’s fighting undefeated former unified welterweight champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis on June 27 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Zayas vs Boots and Fundora vs Kelly, if confirmed, would set up a tournament of sorts to fully settle the junior middleweight division.
“We’ve had very early conversations with PBC about that. They’re very interested, and I said, ‘Let’s make Josh Kelly versus Sebastian Fundora, and the winner fights the winner of Boots-Zayas for undisputed. That would be a very natural thing to do and a sign that boxing is in a great place because the best are fighting the best [and] the champions are fighting the champions,” said Hearn.
Fans will be watching closely to see if PBC, which represents Fundora, and Matchroom, which represents Kelly, will agree to get us one step closer to an undefeated champion.
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