Fundora to vacate for the Spence fight. Is it justified?

https://www.boxingnews24.com/2024/0...-crawford-to-battle-madrimov-for-vacant-belt/

People will give every excuse as to why this is a "better" decision for Sebastian than fighting Crawford. I just think it's pretty ironic that Spence was too "injured" or hurt to face Crawford in the rematch that he himself claimed he was pushing for, but he was perfectly healthy enough to show up at the fight to claim dibs on the winner of the opponents who were slated to face Crawford whom had become the mandatory due to his WIN over Spence a the lower division to become undisputed.

How is it that Fundora and Spence gets ZERO backlash or claims of "ducking" Crawford, yet Crawford spent 4/5 years trying to get his fight vs Spence and was called everything under the sun during the process. Even was discredited on his dominance after the result of the fight.

What am I missing.... What has Crawford (personally) done to become so hated by some so-called boxing fans? When did he become the bad guy?

 

This thread is about exactly what I said it is about in the title. If you took it as "stroking the victim......." then that is your comprehension struggles that you would need to deal with. You clearly have a certain opinion regarding the names and situation at hand and had your answer before you even finished reading my post, thus you shot out your opinion while ignoring certain facts.

Fondora is vacating a belt that everyone knew Crawford was going after. Tszyu was supposed to fight Thurman. How did that fight get put in front of Crawford who was the UNDISPUTED champ at 147lbs and it was clear that Errol was not pushing for the rematch as he claimed he was. Being undisputed, that means, Crawford held the WBO strap along with the others, thus he was elevated as the mandatory at the next division. Something that has been done for multiple fighters with not just the WBO but other sanctioning bodies as well, yet you take this as the "WBO loving Crawford enough to throw their belts at him." Crawford fought for titles. His first title was the WBO at 135lbs....when he moved up, he was able to fight for the WBO at 140lbs.....then unified all of the titles before moving up to 147lbs and fighting the only title holder that was controlled by Top Rank which happened to be the WBO....then unified that division as well. His next move is to move up to 154lbs. He was gunning for Tim Tszyu who HELD THE WBO STRAP. The fight was giving to Thurman out of no where... Thurman gets injured, then they moved Fundora whom was supposed to fight Bohachuck.

You bring up injuries and Fundora not getting a "chance" to defend his title, showing your agenda. Fundora claimed to be injured and was not going to be available til November. Before that announcement, his camp was already talking about making a fight with Errol Spence Jr., regardless of the fact that Crawford was in the picture. Fondora talked about honoring a rematch clause that wasn't in the contract as well.. So, he had 2 options being placed in front of who was the mandatory for the WBO. Stop that B.S. about him not getting a chance. But I bet you'll change your opinion on Crawford being stripped of the IBF just weeks after become undisputed by dismantling Errol Spence Jr. and was locked into a BINDING CONTRACT for a rematch, thus he couldn't legally negotiate another fight. Yet, Jaron Ennis is sitting there with a title that Crawford won in the ring.

Back to Fondora...... remember he was supposed to not be available until November.... so what happen was the 2 individuals who were gunning for him being Tim Tszyu and Terence Crawford moved forward to stay active til then, both announced their next fight for the end of the summer...... Ironically, Fundora is no longer too injured to wait til November anymore as he in rumored to have set his next fight for October vs none other than Errol Spence Jr.

You wanted to take this angle in this discussion so I met you there. But don't ignore the facts to push an agenda.

 

Yea, truthfully, Tim looked to be handling Fondora pretty well through round 3. I blame the arrogance of his camp for not choosing to throw in the towel and taking the No Contest. You got to think about the future of your fighter's career over proving a point or whatever would cause them to say he can still compete blind. They were given 3 chances in the 4th round alone to make the call. After the fact, you can't use the blood as an excuse.

That being said, Fondora understands the issues that Tim posed for him and what he would get facing Crawford. Those who actually follow Spence beyond 5/6 years ago know that the first 9 or 10 of his professional bouts were at 154lbs. He was far from elite during that time with 4 of those opponents are at or below .500 in the winners column currently. Emmanuel Lartey exposed what problems a person with footwork and different angles can pose for Spence as he was the first to visibly hurt Spence as a pro. It's crazy how his stock is still considered higher than the more accomplished fighter that beat the brakes off him.