SPORTS FACTS AND FIGURES 63: TERENCE CRAWFORD FACES THE TIM TSZYU VS. SEBASTIAN FUNDORA WINNER
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 20 Mar 2024
Mike Coppinger posted on X: “WBO president Paco Valcarcel said the winner of Tim Tszyu-Sebastian Fundora must start negotiations with the mandatory challenger five days after the fight. That’s pound-for-pound king Terence Crawford, who was able to position himself into that spot as WBO super champ at 147. If Tszyu wins as expected, a big-time fight with Crawford could be on deck this summer."
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Crawford will battle the Tszyu vs. Fundora winner at junior middleweight rather than fighting at welterweight to defend his belts against the young challengers. If the 36-year-old Crawford will beat Tszyu, he will become the unified WBC/WBO junior middleweight champion and most likely he will challenge the other two belts WBA and IBF to become the undisputed champion in three weight classes.
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Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) being the WBO welterweight champion will become the mandatory challenger for the World Boxing Organization junior middleweight champion Tszyu (24-0, 17 KOs). Crawford will then face the Tszyu-Fundora winner to defend against him next. The two titles, WBC and WBO 154-lb belts, will be at stake when that fight happens.
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Title Fights scheduled:
March 30: Las Vegas (Amazon's Prime Video PPV) -- Title fight: Tim Tszyu vs. Sebastian Fundora, 12 rounds, for Tszyu's WBO junior middleweight title and the vacant WBC junior middleweight title
April 20: Brooklyn -- Title fight: Devin Haney vs. Ryan Garcia, 12 rounds, for Haney's WBC junior welterweight title
May 4: Las Vegas (Prime PPV and DAZN PPV) -- Title fight: Canelo Alvarez vs. Jaime Munguia, 12 rounds, for Alvarez's super middleweight undisputed championship
May 6: Tokyo (ESPN/ESPN+) -- Title fight: Naoya Inoue vs. Luis Nery, 12 rounds, for Inoue's junior featherweight undisputed championship
May 11: Perth, Australia (ESPN/ESPN+) -- Title fight: Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. George Kambosos Jr., 12 rounds, for the vacant IBF lightweight title
May 18: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Title fight: Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury, 12 rounds, for the undisputed heavyweight championship
May 25: Leeds, England (ESPN+) -- Josh Taylor vs. Jack Catterall, 12 rounds, junior welterweights
June 1: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Title fight: Dmitry Bivol vs. Artur Beterbiev, 12 rounds, for the undisputed light heavyweight championship.
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NBA History posted that Victor Wembanyama joined David Robinson as the only rookies in NBA history to record 30+ points, 15+ rebounds, 5+ assists, and 5+ blocks in a game. Wembanyama is playing an amazing rookie season with averages of 20.8 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.3 steals and 3.5 blocks per game and shooting 46.7% from the field and 32.7% from the three-point range in 60 games.
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June Mar Fajardo warned his team San Miguel Beer on being complacent after a 2-0 start in their campaign to defend the PBA Philippine Cup crown. Led by the 7-time MVP Fajardo, the Beermen edged the TNT Tropang Giga, 91-89, on Sunday at Ynares Center, Antipolo.
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San Miguel's next game will be on March 31 after the All-Star and Holy Week break and Fajardo wants the Beermen to stay focused. His playing time is still closely monitored if he has fully recovered from a calf injury. But Fajardo came off the bench again and shot 15 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in 32 minutes of action.
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Japanese prospect Kanamu Sakama passed away on Sunday, March 17, according to the Japanese Boxing Commission (JBC) and Japanese media platforms. The 20-year-old Japanese boxer was popular for his very exciting match against Cebuano John Paul Gabunilas last December 26 in the undercard of the Naoya Inoue-Marlon Tapales unification bout in Tokyo, Japan.
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Sakama won by a fifth-round technical knockout. But his victory was surrounded by controversy because Gabunilas’ team complained the fight was stopped by the referee prematurely. That was his last match before his untimely demise. Kanama was regarded as one of the best rising fighters in Japan with a career record of nine wins with eight knockouts.
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Sakama was scheduled to fight countryman Hiroki Oki last March 16, but did not push through with the match due to his annoying health condition. The cause of Sakama’s untimely passing was still not announced.
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Pinoy Aquaman” Ingemar Macarine established a new personal record for swimming the 10-kilometer open water in the Capiz Sea last Sunday, March 17, 2024. Macarine, already 47-years old, broke his previous 10k open water swim in Masbate last year. His previous record was four hours and 22 minutes in Masbate, while he just swam three hours and 15 minutes in Capiz.
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