Top Rank and Sampson Boxing have already nailed down the particulars for one title fight and are continuing talks for another.

One sanctioning body has aided the cause in hopes that a deal can be reached.

A two-week extension was granted by the WBO to work out terms for the ordered Sebastian Fundora-Xander Zayas unified junior middleweight title fight. The two sides were originally due to reach terms by April 12 but have yet to reach a deal. They will now have until April 25 to avoid a purse bid hearing.

“Be advised that Top Rank/PBC have jointly requested an extension of the negotiation period,“ WBO president Gustavo Olivieri informed BoxingScene and other media members. “Committee grants extension until Friday, April 25, 2025, no later than 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time).” 

Fundora, 22-1-1 (14 KOs), holds the WBC and WBO junior middleweight titles. The 6ft 5½in southpaw successfully defended both belts in a fourth-round knockout of Chordale Booker atop a March 22 PBC on Prime Video show from Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas. 

Zayas, 21-0 (13 KOs), was ringside for the occasion and joined Fundora in the ring, knowing he was going to be next in line. The WBO confirmed Zayas’ place as the mandatory challenger one day later, in a ruling that also removed four-division titlist Terence “Bud” Crawford as its interim belt holder.

Sampson Boxing is the lead promoter for Fundora, while Zayas is with Top Rank. Getting the fight done and avoiding a purse bid remains the priority, though location and compensation were sticking points during the earlier stages of ongoing talks.

Both companies were able to resurrect the Keyshawn Davis-Edwin De Los Santos WBO lightweight title fight less than 24 hours after it appeared to have fallen through. A breakdown in communication in De Los Santos’ due compensation forced his team to huddle up and revisit the terms of the title shot, which is being eyed for June 7 in Davis’ hometown of Norfolk, Virginia.

The weekend had been reserved in past years by Top Rank to host a show on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City. Zayas, a 22-year-old Boricua now based in South Florida, headlined last year’s edition and hoped to do the same this June. 

However, the timing of the negotiation period was too tight to guarantee the fight could land on that date. (And it assumed Fundora was even willing to fight in hostile territory as the defending titlist.)

Fundora has headlined in Las Vegas in each of his past two starts. A full 51 weeks prior to his return this past March, Fundora dethroned then-unbeaten WBO titlist Tim Tszyu (24-0 at the time) and also picked up the vacant WBC junior middleweight title last March 31 at T-Mobile Arena.

The extended ring absence was largely due to an inability to get a planned showdown with former unified welterweight titlist Errol Spence Jnr, 29-1 (22 KOs), over the line.

Zayas will be entering his first major title fight. He solidified his place atop the WBO rankings with a ninth-round knockout of unbeaten Slawa Spomer on February 14 at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York City. The fight was his third straight at the intimate venue and seventh overall on the MSG property.

The next two weeks could reveal when and where Fundora-Zayas will take place.

Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as a senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home. Follow Jake on and .