Sebastian Fundora’s coach and father says he has one job on fight night, and that is to be a trainer, not a dad.

Freddy Fundora, who has already taken Sebastian’s sister Gabriela to a world title, is hoping son Sebastian can cause a major shock in Las Vegas tonight by winning the WBO and WBC super welterweight championships and becoming the first man to beat Australian star Tim Tszyu.

“As a coach, as a father, yes, it is a proud moment to see him up here,” Freddy said, watching his son receiving adulation and media attention during fight week.

Like his son, Freddy said there was no doubt in his mind to accept the Tszyu fight when the phone rang less than two weeks ago, asking them to deputise for an injured Keith Thurman.

“Of course, it was a great opportunity, we got a call, actually we were putting up a fence, we were training, we’re always working anyway, and we got a call from the promoter,” Fundora Sr. recalled. “We looked at one another and smiled and said, ‘Let’s do it.’”

Sebastian this week had said that Tszyu had always been in his sights, and that had they both won in their originally scheduled bouts, they could have met next.

“He’s in our weight class, he’s one of the top fighters up there, WBO champion, so of course, we had him in sights,” Freddy agreed.

Fundora had been slated to face big-punching Serhii Bohachuk until he was elevated up the bill. Fundora is now replaced against Bohachuk with the last man to fight Fundora, Brian Mendoza, who scored a thunderous seventh-round knockout win over Sebastian last April.

Lessons have been learned from that fight, Freddy said.

“Honestly there wasn’t too much of a teaching, there was a ‘don’t take the fight under certain circumstances,’ but that sounds like an excuse, so we don’t talk like that,” he said.

Then, asked how it felt in the corner seeing his son badly stopped, Fundora explained how he looked upon the incident as a coach and not a father.

“No, people don’t see what I see,” he said, of how he saw things. “A lot of people have never boxed or done boxing or laced up a pair of gloves so they don’t see what I see from my athlete – not my son – my athlete. 

“He was exhausted since the third round. He was fighting with fumes. I saw it. People think it was a knockout, no it was more exhaustion. It was a lazy uppercut, he was exhausted and we know why. He knows why. We’re going to fix it, never to be done again.”

Asked whether it was easy to take the emotion out of a night like that, Freddy said: “[You] have to. It’s easy for me, I’ve always been his manager since he was born. I bought him diapers, I bought him baby food, so I’ve always been his manager, we don’t need strangers in our team.” 

Talk as the week has progressed has seen Terence Crawford mentioned as a possible foe for the winner. Is that a fight Freddy is interested in for his son?

‘It is too easy to talk about it,’ he said, wearing his coach’s hat.

“Are they fighting Saturday?” 

“No.” 

“Okay, so I’m not worried about that. They’re not fighting Saturday. We have a contract with Tim Tszyu and we’re going to fight him.”