With less than two weeks until fight day, Tim Tszyu (24-0) has a new opponent.
The Australian was due to face Keith Thurman in the main event of Prime Video’s first pay-per-view in Las Vegas on March 30.
Unfortunately, an injury to Thurman has forced him to withdraw from the card, and Sebastian Fundora will face Tszyu.
Who is Sebastian Fundora?
Sebastián Fundora is tall. Very high. That’s the first thing you need to know.
Standing at just six feet six inches (197 cm), super welterweights simply don’t get any taller.
If that doesn’t make him unwieldy enough, he’s also left-handed, giving opponents even more to think about when facing “The Towering Inferno.”
In the blink of an eye, Tszyu went from preparing to fight a 177cm orthodox boxer in Thurman to something completely different.
Born in Florida, the 26-year-old is not just a novelty act: he knows how to fight.
Fundora has amassed a professional record of 20-1-1, earning 13 knockouts along the way.
While his build may not suggest it, the long southpaw can cause a lot of pain and doesn’t mind taking a little punishment as well.
I mean, Sebastian Fundora’s fights are generally action-packed fights and you can say exactly the same about Tim Tszyu. Seat belt.
Fundora fought his way to the WBC interim super welterweight world title by stopping Erickson Lubin, before defending it with a unanimous points decision over Carlos Ocampo, both in 2022.
He then lost that belt in brutal fashion at the hands of Brian Mendoza, who, when it was in the cards, hit him with a left hook before closing the show with two more hard punches.
Fundora hasn’t fought since that loss to Mendoza, but was set to fight Serhii Bohachuk for the vacant WBC 154-pound title on the Tszyu-Thurman card.
What titles are Tim Tszyu and Sebastian Fundora fighting for?
Initially, even though Tszyu held the WBO super welterweight world title, that belt was not going to be on the line against Thurman.
The WBO confirmed that they would not sanction it as a world title fight since Thurman, primarily a welterweight, was not in their classification at 154 pounds.
However, the sanctioning body had announced that Tszyu would be stripped of the title if Thurman emerged victorious.
Now, Tszyu vs. Fundora has become a title unification fight.
The Australian’s WBO strap will be on the line, as will the vacant WBC belt.
Thurman’s injury has given Tszyu and Fundora the opportunity to reclaim their title as the pision’s top man.
On the undercard, Bohachuk will now face Mendoza, with the WBC interim title on the line.
Fight card between Tim Tszyu and Sebastian Fundora
- Tim Tszyu (c) against Sebastian Fundora for the WBO and WBC super welterweight titles
- Rolando Romero (c) vs. Isaac Cruz for the WBA super lightweight title
- Erislandy Lara (c) vs. Michael Zerafa for the WBA middleweight title
- Julio César Martínez vs. Angelino Córdova for the WBC flyweight title
- Elijah Garcia vs. Kyrone Davis; Middleweight
- Serhii Bohachuk vs. Brian Mendoza for the interim WBC super welterweight title
