Hearn is an odd man. He - and the rest of the boxing world - know Ortiz is interim WBC champ. When his promotional "thing" ends he can activate a mandatory clause versus Fundora. This little playoff is nice and all, but the reality is it adds time to an undisputed champ, not shortens it. Fundora v Ortiz winner against Boots v Zayas winner. Adding Kelley in only adds another fight. But Hearn promotes Kelley and Boots so he wants two paydays, not one.
Not a good matchup for Kelly; with Fundora's freakish reach he won't be able to pull off the stick and move strategy he employed against Murtazaliev. Fundora gets this one done inside the distance IMO.
Agreed. There is a reason why Fundora’s team is very interested in the Kelly fight. Kelly will put up a brave showing but will eventually get broken down late. I don’t think Kelly is as good as Thurman to be honest.
It may look something like Kelly’s Ray Robinson draw, but worse. But, he may have improved, and Fundora may struggle to land for a while considering he isn’t the fastest, and Kelly does have good head movement, but I believe he’s forced to work more than he wants, moving excessively, more head movement than he wants to, and it ends up slowing him down, he gets caught more and eventually gets stopped. But I believe he’ll make it tricky for a while.
Smart. Hes already beat the best at 154 for beating Thurman (to some). Now he'll pick the weakest champ.