Tim Tszyu to fight Sebastian Fundora with Keith Thurman injured

[Ledhed1]

By Mike Coppinger, ESPN

Tim Tszyu will defend his WBO junior middleweight title vs. Sebastian Fundora on March 30 in Las Vegas in the main event of PBC's inaugural PPV on Prime Video after Keith Thurman suffered a biceps injury in training that prompted his withdrawal.

Tszyu, a rising star from Australia, had an opportunity to reach the next level with his most high-profile opponent yet. Instead, the 29-year-old action fighter will face the 6-foot-5, 154-pound Fundora on 12 days' notice.

The WBO ruled that the winner of Tszyu-Fundora must start negotiations with the mandatory challenger within five days of the fight. The mandatory is Terence Crawford, who used his status as WBO super champion at 147 pounds to position himself into a title shot in a fourth weight class.

The fight will be quite an adjustment for Tszyu. He was preparing for Thurman, an orthodox boxer coming up from 147 pounds who is 5-8 and likes to box and move. Fundora, known as "The Towering Inferno," is a southpaw who applies non-stop pressure.

The 26-year-old Fundora hasn't competed since April, when he suffered a seventh-round KO loss to Brian Mendoza in one of the biggest upsets of 2023.

Fundora (20-1-1, 13 KOs) is aided by the fact he was preparing for a WBC vacant title fight vs. Serhii Bohachuk on the undercard of Tszyu-Thurman. The vacant WBC title also will be up for grabs when Fundora fights Tszyu.

Bohachuk, like Tszyu, is an orthodox pressure fighter. He now will fight Mendoza on the undercard.

Fundora outpointed Carlos Ocampo in October 2022 in his most-recent win. Tszyu (24-0, 17 KOs) knocked out Ocampo in the opening round in June.

That bout was sandwiched last year between Tszyu victories over Tony Harrison (TKO 9 in March) and a unanimous decision over Mendoza in October.

The Thurman bout was set to take place at 155 pounds with no title on the line since Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs) wasn't ranked by the WBO.

The bout was also set to be Thurman's first in 25 months.

Thurman, 35, has one career loss. That setback came against the legendary Manny Pacquiao in July 2019, when Thurman was floored in Round 1 and rallied before dropping a split decision.

With Thurman sidelined, PBC will need to replace the Fundora-Bohachuk fight that was set to open the four-fight PPV. Rolly Romero will defend his WBA junior welterweight title vs. Isaac Cruz in the co-feature while Erislandy Lara puts his WBA middleweight title on the line against Michael Zerafa in the third fight.

[LondonRingRules]

- - Fundora a very underrated MONSTER towers over Tim. He suffered his first loss not so long ago in an all action brawl with Brian Mendoza whom Tim just beat. 

I see a very good fight as both are up and coming and have much to prove by my reckoning. Fundora typically forces the fight using his size and work rate. Hope they've been working on his defense. 

Has a very lovely sister who may now hold a belt that i'd love to meet...yeah!!!

[Cableaddict]

The problem with Fundora, from the little I've seen, is that he has no idea how to capitalize on his height & reach advantages.

I don't know much about Tszyu, but I'm rooting for him.

 

Neither one has a chance against Sweet T, of course.

[Ledhed1]

Tricky assignment for Tszyu as he was preparing for an entirely different opponent before the switch. While Fundora's pre-switch prep is adaptable to Tszyu. First true starring role for Tszyu in a top tier event; how will he handle it? He's stated this is precisely what he wants. To achieve stardom in America. Time to shine. Fundora's KO loss to Mendoza - common opponent whom Tszyu outpointed - was troubling. Tszyu comes across as a cool customer who's handled all comers - various styles - to this point. Make it a priority to minimize the threat of Fundora's power and he comes through to resume his chase of Jermell.

[Ledhed1]

And Pitbull Cruz takes out that fraud Rolly Romero.

[Ledhed1]

So the cut on Tszyu's forehead obviously changed everything. He still struggled with Fundora's height and length imo, so the short prep time played a factor. Still Tszyu made it damn close and doubtless he'll get a rematch.

PBC was off the air for far too long but this was a strong card. Bohachuk's coming out party (think Fundora was glad he didn't fight Bohachuk?!). JC Martinez had a strong showing. Lara made another loud KO statement. And Pitbull Cruz lived up to his nickname; poor Rolly.

Was also interested to see where the Showtime broadcast crew would land. Nearly all were on Prime; actually a mix of the Showtime and Fox PBC teams. Apparently Fox bowed out of the boxing biz too but Showtime's decision got all the attention; strange.

PBC holdovers on the Prime broadcast Ranallo, Mares, Goosen (from Fox), Jordan Plant (also Fox), Claudia Trejos (been on a few networks latest DAZN), Brian Custer. Conspicuously absent was Al Bernstein. Prime opted for Goosen in that role. Shame for Al. Coincidentally though Bernstein was on the air Saturday. Dubiously banished to Bulgaria to call the Pulev brothers' fights on DAZN. A precipitous tumble down the broadcast totem pole.

Ranallo used the term "pay per view era" to describe PBC's debut on Prime. Word is that the Prime deal is for 10-12 events per year. That's not alot. Seems one thing's not changing at PBC; its fighters won't be fighting all that often. A disservice to the fighters and keeps the sport out of the spotlight for extended periods. With approaches like this, the sport falls further and further into obscurity.

[Cableaddict]

Should have been called a N/C.

 

And Tim STILL almost won it.  

Fondura fought stupidly, as usual.  He only started to use his height and reach in the last couple of rounds.  That guy has no future.

 

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"And Pitbull Cruz takes out that fraud Rolly Romero."

That was sweet.   Total destruction and humiliation of a typical WBA "champ."

The gas tank on Cruz is amazing.  My only qualm is that, when his opponent is in trouble, he tends to swing semi-wildly, missing a lot. Against someone like Haney, he's going to need better precision.

[WelshDevilRob]

That was a bad set of results for the Aussies - Tim Tszyu lost, Zerafa crushed and Liam Wilson stopped.

Edited April 7 by WelshDevilRob