Dan Canobbio argued that the 28-year-old Fundora has reached the point in his career where he should begin making his own decisions instead of simply following the plans laid out by his team.
“At what point does Sebastian Fundora take his career into his own hands?” Canobbio asked on Inside Boxing. “He is the perfect employee.”
Canobbio pointed to Xander Zayas, who quickly embraced a dangerous fight with Ennis after becoming champion, as an example of a fighter taking control of his own path rather than waiting for promoters and managers to decide what comes next.
Former world champion Chris Algieri saw it differently, saying Fundora has complete trust in his father, promoter and adviser Al Haymon, and appears content focusing on training while leaving the business side to those around him.
That explanation hasn’t satisfied many fans.
One poster wrote that Fundora “seems very content fighting the PBC guys,” while another argued there “hasn’t been enough scrutiny for him” and predicted he would continue following Lewkowicz’s blueprint rather than pushing for bigger fights.
The criticism isn’t necessarily that Fundora has avoided every difficult opponent. He owns wins over Tim Tszyu twice, Erickson Lubin and Keith Thurman. Instead, many fans believe his reign has lacked the signature fights that define a champion’s legacy.
The names most often mentioned are Jaron Ennis, Vergil Ortiz Jr., Bakhram Murtazaliev, Xander Zayas and Terence Crawford, all of whom have been linked to Fundora at various points without a fight materializing.
Those fights may not happen until Fundora decides it’s time to stop letting his team chart the course and begins demanding the biggest fights himself.
With Ennis apparently moving toward a fight against Josh Kelly and Fundora expected to face Hadribeaj next, that debate is unlikely to disappear anytime soon.
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