Tim Tszyu v Sebastian Fundora fight: Shock change announced after Keith Thurman injury
Tim Tszyu’s Las Vegas showdown with Keith Thurman is off following a freak injury – but the Australian has already lined up a replacement. And he’s a 197cm monster.
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A bullish Tim Tszyu has labelled Sebastian Fundora a “height bully” with “average boxing skills” as he brushed off concerns about ‘The Towering Inferno’s’ whopping 23cm height advantage.
A win over Fundora would see Tszyu bring two super-welterweight world titles back to Australia and could propel him into a super-fight with pound-for-pound king Terence Crawford later this year
In his first public statement since Fundora replaced Keith Thurman for Tszyu’s Las Vegas debut on March 30, the Aussie also took another dig at long-time rival Michael Zerafa and hit out at modern day boxers engaging in “Twitter battles” rather than fighting.
Tszyu’s scheduled non-title fight with Thurman at T-Mobile Arena was cancelled on Tuesday morning (Australian time), when Thurman pulled out with a biceps injury.
After a flurry of late night negotiations, the 197cm tall Fundora was selected as Thurman’s late-notice replacement.
The southpaw Fundora was initially scheduled to face Serhii Bohachuk for the WBC world title on the Tszyu-Thurman undercard. The new Tszyu-Fundora main event is now a unification bout for the Aussie’s WBO title and the vacant WBC belt.
Tszyu took all of 10 seconds to agree to the new fight, saying the fact that there are now two world titles on the line means it’s an even bigger bout than the Thurman showdown.
“It’s a bigger prize because there’s belts on the line,” he said on Tuesday. “It’s fuelled the fire for me. To a certain extent, it’s a more awkward fight.
“I’ve come up against Southpaws before, but to come up against a guy that tall is not really known in the 154 pound division.
“He’s tricky and tall, but I’m confident of victory by any means necessary.
“Everyone’s got flaws and advantages and strengths. It’s all about exploiting them.”
In Fundora, who has been susceptible to body shots in the past, Tszyu sees plenty of holes.
“Fundora’s like a height bully, that’s all he is,” he said. “He’s got average boxing skills, average IQ, but he’s got this physique that allows him to bully people.
“But you can work him out.”
Tszyu said his willingness to take the high-risk, late-notice fight proves he’s unique amoungst modern day boxers.
“Nothing stops me, no matter what,” he said. “I live in a different era to where we are now. We live in an era of Twitter battles rather than fighters. I hope I can inspire more fighters.
“I saved the show. T-Mobile Arena, every other fighter on the undercard, it’s all because of my decision.”
Although Fundora was always the front-runner, Erislandy Lara was another possible replacement. It would have been a massive blow for Zerafa, who is scheduled to fight the Cuban for the WBA middleweight title on the same card.
“They gave me Fundora or Lara, but I didn’t want to break Zerafa’s heart,” Tszyu quipped. “But, I’m at 154 right now, I’m chasing glory there.”
The WBO has already ruled that the winner of Tszyu’s showdown with Fundora must fight their number one contender.
That man is Terence Crawford, meaning a Tszyu-Crawford blockbuster could be made later this year.
“Beautiful, that’s every fighter’s dream, to be fighting on the biggest stage of them all,” Tszyu said. “But now the dream is to unify.”
For Tszyu’s promoter, George Rose, the hastily rearranged Fundora showdown poses a massive risk.
Instead of Thurman, who is past his prime and who hasn’t fought above welterweight before, Tszyu is now fighting one of the most feared men in the division.
“Fundora’s a guy you need 12 weeks’ preparation for, but Tim’s gonna do it in 12 days,” Rose told this masthead.
“It’s a harder fight, you can’t prepare for him overnight, but Tim’s going to do that. The belts are there though, and that’s another big carrot.”
Rose also said No Limit will take a big financial hit.
“When you change the headline, you take a big hit,” he said. “And in this one, we’ll take another big hit.
“It pretty much doubles the budget we had, which means I’ll just smile and push through it.”
Despite the risks and the big financial setback, it’s nothing compared to the other option, that Tszyu pulled out of the fight altogether.
“I’m a realist, and at the end of the day, Tim has been in camp for 17 weeks, so I would never do that to him,” Tszyu’s manager, Glen Jennings told this masthead while watching Tszyu training in Vegas.
“I broke the news to him, and it’s hard to put into words, but within 30 seconds of finding out Thurman was out, I’d lost him to conversation.”
Hours after locking in Fundora as the new opponent, Tszyu’s team had flown in new taller sparring partners to prepare for ‘The Towering Inferno’ as best they could.
On the undercard, Tszyu’s most recent opponent, Brian Mendoza, replaces Fundora against Bohachuk in a fight for the WBC interim title.
‘ARE YOU SERIOUS’ HOW TSZYU REACTED TO CHANGE
Tim Tszyu will fight ‘The Towering Inferno’ Sebastian Fundora in a WBO and WBC super welterweight world title unification bout after Keith Thurman sensationally pulled out with a biceps injury just 12 days before the fight.
After a night of frantic negotiations in Sydney and Las Vegas, Tszyu’s manager Glen Jennings confirmed they had landed a coup.
“We’ve managed to pull off a bit of a coup,” Jennings told this masthead while watching Tszyu train in Vegas.
“We’ll be fighting Sebastian Fundora and it will be a unification for the WBO, which Tim already holds, and the vacant WBC belt.”
It’s far from the first late-notice fight drama Tszyu has had in his professional career, and his response was typical of the 29-year-old.
“Are you serious?” Tszyu said when he received the news. “If Thurman’s out, I’ll take on whoever puts their hand up.”
Within minutes, he was watching highlights of Fundora on his phone, while his coach and uncle, Igor Goloubev, began strategising for the new opponent.
Then he was back in the gym training.
“I’m watching Tim now, and it’s as if nothing’s happened,” Jennings said.
“I broke the news to him, and it’s hard to put into words, but within 30 seconds of finding out Thurman was out, I’d lost him to conversation.
I’m used to the word “pull out†Thurman, Charlo, Zerafa, Lubin…
— Tim Tszyu (@Tim_Tszyu) March 18, 2024
And as always the show goes on … see you all March 30.
“He was looking at Fundora’s last fight on his phone.
“Thurman is no longer in the thought process, he’s in the dust and it’s all focus on Fundora.”
Tszyu’s showdown with Thurman was set to be fought at 155-pounds – one pound above the super-welterweight limit – with the Aussie’s world title not on the line. Although, if he lost to Thurman, the WBO title would have been made vacant.
Fundora was scheduled to fight Serhii Bohachuk for the vacant WBC world title on the Tszyu-Thurman undercard.
Bohachuk will likely now fight Brian Mendoza – Tszyu’s most recent opponent – as Fundora’s undercard replacement.
Erislandy Lara was even considered as a possible replacement opponent for Tszyu, in what would have been a shattering blow for Michael Zerafa, who is scheduled to fight the Cuban for the WBA middleweight title.
A southpaw, Fundora is a vastly different opponent to former two-time welterweight champion Thurman.
At 197cm, he’s the tallest fighter in the division by far – 26 centimetres taller than Thurman.
In 2022, he won the interim WBC super-welterweight world title with a ninth round stoppage of Erickson Lubin.
Lubin was closely linked to a fight with Tszyu earlier this year, before Thurman emerged as a shock opponent.
Fundora defended the interim WBC belt with a unanimous decision win over Carlos Ocampo in October 2022.
In his next fight, Ocampo was knocked out by Tszyu in just 77 seconds.
In his most recent bout, the 26-year-old Fundora was stopped in a knockout of the year contender by Mendoza 11 months ago.
That result saw Mendoza claim the interim WBC title, which he was forced to relinquish when he fought for Tszyu’s WBO belt in October.
Once rivals, Mendoza had been in Tszyu’s training camp, helping him prepare for Thurman.
Fundora also has a unanimous decision win over Australian Olympian Daniel Lewis on the undercard of Tyson Fury’s second fight with Deontay Wilder in 2020.
If they both won their originally scheduled belts on March 30, there’s every chance Tszyu and Fundora could have fought a unified title fight later this year.
Thurman had done a remarkable job in promoting his showdown with Tszyu, even telling this masthead last week that he had fears over the judging.
SEBASTIAN FUNDORA RECORD
20-1-1 (13KOs)
Age: 26
Height: 197cm/6’5”
Reach: 203cm/80 inches
Nickname: The Towering Inferno
Pro debut: September 24, 2016
Professional rounds: 116
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