Sebastian Fundora faced his biggest test against former welterweight champ Keith Thurman and used his height, reach and power to deliver a beating and become the first to stop the certain to be Hall of Fame fighter on Saturday in Las Vegas. He also retained the WBC super welter title.
It was never in doubt.
“It was a lot easier than I expected,” said Fundora about defeating Thurman. “He was such a big name.”
Fundora (24-1-1, 16 Kos) was facing the most experienced fighter in Thurman (31-2, 23 Kos) at the MGM Grand but demonstrated that his physical abilities were too much to overcome, even for a boxing great.
The opening touching of gloves showed a size disparity that seemed almost comical.
Fundora immediately went to work behind a long jab that extends 80 inches and proved immediately that Thurman was going to have problems trying to get inside that elongated reach. Then Fundora fired a left that nearly dropped his foe.
Thurman, whose only loss was to the great Manny Pacquiao back in 2017, seemed perplexed by his incredible task of attacking someone nearly a foot taller and firing bullets from all angles. His coach offered that Thurman should punch more. But how was the big question.
For the next three rounds Fundora repeated the same process of jabbing from the outside and firing left uppercuts whenever Thurman attempted to get within attacking distance. Fundora pounded Thurman incessantly and with precision.
In the fifth round, Thurman was determined to break the invisible shield and came in pumping with both hands. Some connected, but he was met with a furious counter by Fundora who seemed more than ready for the challenge. Once the uppercuts connected, Thurman was forced to covered up and look for safety outside. Fundora pummeled him until the bell.
Though Thurman’s attempt to get inside Fundora’s reach was unsuccessful, he had no other choice but to go through the buzzsaw. He tried and was met with a furious counter assault that battered him from post to post. He tried to stop and fire but was met by Fundora’s left uppercuts and rights. He tried futilely but referee Tom Taylor saw the ex-champion absorb punishing blows and stopped the match at 1:17 of the sixth round.
“I’ve been working very hard for this fight. Keith, I always looked up to him, a Hall of Famer for sure. I want to take my hat off to him,” said Fundora.
Fundora retains the WBC super welterweight title for a third time and third by knockout. He said he is excited about being in a division with so many big names and challenges.
“There are all kind of names. I think 154 is the best division,” said Fundora. “Now I’m finally here.”
The other big names are Jaron “Boots” Ennis, Vergil Hunter, Xander Zayas, and Josh Kelly.
Other Bouts
A battle between super welterweight contenders saw Cuba’s Yoenis Tellez (12-1, 8 Kos) survive a rough and tumble boxing match against Bryan Mendoza (23-5, 17 Kos) to win by unanimous decision in a fight closer than the scores.
Mendoza is the only one to defeat and knockout champion Fundora.
Both fighters suffered cuts from head butts – Tellez to the nose and Mendoza on the eye – but after 10 back and forth rounds all three judges scored for Tellez 98-92, 97-93 twice. It was an exciting match.
Cuba’s Yoenli Hernandez (10-0, 9 Kos) won by stoppage over Terrell Gausha (24-6-1, 12 Kos) to become the first to ever stop the veteran contender in their middleweight fight. Hernandez continually pressed and battered Gausha and fired an overhand right that prompted the referee to stop the match though it seemed too premature.
Gurgen “Big Gug” Hovhannisyan (10-0, 9 Kos) used his reach and left jab to keep Cesar Navarro (15-4, 13 Kos) at arm’s length and then lowered the boom in the fifth round to force the referee to stop the fight at 2:45 of the fifth round in their heavyweight fight. It was the first time Navarro was ever stopped though he never touched the canvas.
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