Boxing
Ituma, Benn, Sheeraz: Who are the next generation of world champions in Great Britain?
Sebastian Fundora’s camp dug its heels in over an even 50-50 split against Jaron “Boots” Ennis, repeating a stance Fundora voiced earlier in the week. That position could turn into a massive roadblock if Ennis brings three junior middleweight belts to the table.
Ennis already holds the WBA and WBO belts, with a chance to pick up the IBF strap by beating Josh Kelly. Fundora owns the remaining WBC crown, yet promoter Samson Lewkowicz insists the belt count shouldn’t matter when dividing the money.
“It doesn’t make any difference because we need each other,” Lewkowicz said during Fundora’s post-fight interview. “We need 50-50 because you want to unify. Doesn’t matter how many titles.”
Holding the final strap hands Fundora real leverage since Ennis needs it to crown an undisputed champion. Whether that justifies an equal split remains up for debate. Lewkowicz treats the gateway to undisputed status as enough reason for parity, regardless of the hardware Ennis collects first.
The promoter also argued both men deserve identical purses because they dedicated their lives to the sport. While that reasoning justifies a massive payday, it ignores the reality of differing commercial draw.
Lewkowicz locked the stance in place with an uncompromising warning: “It’s not negotiation.”
That hard line creates an immediate problem for a matchup that requires real compromise. Should Ennis get past Kelly, his side will hold a strong competitive case for the lion’s share. Fundora’s team expects Ennis to accept that collecting three world titles yields zero financial edge over a single belt holder.
Fundora openly admitted he prefers Ennis over Kelly.
“Hopefully he gets the job done with Kelly as well because that’s a fight I would want rather than Kelly,” Fundora said.
Kelly could still wreck those plans before they start. Ennis has yet to secure that third belt, and his team did not offer an immediate reaction during the broadcast.
Fundora’s eagerness to face Ennis sits at odds with his promoter’s rigid financial demands. Holding the last strap offers leverage, but treating an even split as an absolute requirement could easily derail the opportunity.
Lewkowicz is trying to sell undisputed status as a substitute for real market value, and that math never holds up when the bell rings.
Taking twelve rounds to finally clip Ermal Hadribeaj with a single second left on the clock does zero favors for Fundora’s bargaining position. Hadribeaj gave him fits, exposed the same inside defensive vulnerabilities Fundora has shown his entire career, and made him look entirely beatable. You cannot scrape by a fringe contender in an ugly, grinding affair on Saturday and demand equal billing with Boots on Sunday.
Ennis packs arenas in Philadelphia, commands serious network backing, and looks like a destructive pound-for-pound talent every time he steps in the ring. Fundora holds the WBC trinket, but he simply does not command the ticket sales, the viewership, or the aura that Ennis brings. Promoters love to claim holding the final belt is the golden ticket, but history shows that trying to hostage the undisputed tag usually leads straight to being bypassed.
If Lewkowicz stays entrenched at 50-50 and genuinely means “it’s not negotiation,” he will simply talk Fundora right out of the room. Boots has plenty of alternative options, while Fundora risks ending up with the short end of purse bids or taking far less money defending against mandatories nobody cares to see.
Filip Hrgovic is having a grand time talking down to Moses Itauma. As the young heavyweight mopes over his first defeat and fixates on replays, Hrgovic delivered a blunt reality check: stop crying, get back in the gym, and figure out how to win when your opponent refuses to fall over.
Itauma admitted this week that rewatching the bout eats away at him. He landed his best artillery, watched Hrgovic walk straight through it, and kept winging power shots until his gas tank emptied completely. He sounds like a fighter in denial, still convinced the knockout was right there if he had just thrown a little harder.
Hrgovic responded with dripping condescension, offering to comfort the 21-year-old prospect like a disappointed toddler.
“I’ll tell him, ‘Look, Moses, everything will be good,’” Hrgovic told The Stomping Ground. “I will cuddle him … on the head, like, ‘Moses, everything will be good. Don’t be upset.’”
The mocking humor carried an unforgiving point. Hrgovic pointed out that a loss should light a fire under a fighter rather than shatter his nerve, before making sure to remind everyone who dismantled the hype train.
“You must learn from that that you can’t knock out Filip Hrgovic,” he said. “You must learn you can’t knock out everyone. You must be ready for a 12-round fight.”
That diagnosis is right on the money. Itauma got exposed by his own reliance on early blowouts. Once his power failed to create a shortcut, he had no Plan B, frantically emptying his reserves against an immovable target walking him down.
Surviving at the top level means knowing how to bank rounds without punching yourself into exhaustion. Itauma needs to accept that durable heavyweights will absorb his Sunday punch and keep coming.
Hrgovic threw in obligatory compliments about Itauma’s raw speed, but the core message was pure dismissal.
“No time for crying. Go back to the gym, and that’s it, man. Simple.”
Staring at the tape will not undo the beating. Itauma either learns how to box when the stoppage vanishes, or the next seasoned heavyweight will run the exact same script on him.
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