So much has come so fast for undisputed women’s flyweight champion Gabriela Fundora, and the best part for her is envisioning all that remains.
More knockouts. More titles. And another sibling world champion.
Appearing at her promoter Oscar De La Hoya’s downtown Los Angeles offices Tuesday to discuss her September 20 title defense against Argentina’s Ayelen “Piru” Granadino, 12-2-4 (1 KO), Fundora will headline her former hometown arena in a DAZN-streamed card at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California.
Flanked by her five belts, Fundora said her second consecutive main event will serve as a reminder of a goal fulfilled after her brother Sebastian Fundora – the WBC 154lbs world titleholder – and father-trainer Freddy Fundora vowed at the opening of their careers to put their nearby childhood home Coachella “on the map.”
With eight knockouts in her 16 fights, including a seventh-round stoppage of Marilyn Badillo Amaya in April in Oceanside, California, Fundora, 23, trains intently for stoppages in her family’s mountain compound, cracking that football fans “want touchdowns,” not field goals, and she’s determined to provide her sport’s ultimate reward to her growing throng of followers.
“Seeing the [crowd’s] reaction from my first knockout, that, ‘Dang, we need to see this girl again …,’ I was like, ‘OK, this works,’” Fundora told BoxingScene. “People like seeing points being made, so I want to continue getting them, so instead of wondering what’s going to happen in my fights, they’ll think, ‘When’s Fundora going to get the knockout?’
“That’s the point of boxing. You want to make sure you get the knockout. You don’t want to leave it to the judges. What fun is that?”
The Boxing Writers Association of America’s 2024 Fighter of the Year, Fundora told BoxingScene she anticipates testing herself both at the 108lbs weight class, below flyweight – she said she walks around at 112lbs – and many of those above her weight class as opportunities emerge.
“I’ll keep defending until my body tells me otherwise,” Fundora said.
As has happened in other female divisions, where Claressa Shields and Katie Taylor reign, the divide between the elites and contenders is wide.
Fundora and her family are dedicated to maintaining that dominance by so fervently preparing in camp, adhering to a rugged routine that Fundora remained coy about during Tuesday’s session.
“We wrestle bears,” she cracked, adding in a reference to the old “Kung Fu” television show: “If we can contain the deers, we’re ready” to fight.
“I can’t say too much. Coca-Cola does not give away its secret recipe.”
She made clear her father provides the heartbeat of camp after first putting boxing gloves on her at age 6.
“I was like, ‘Let’s go rule the world,’” she said. “My dad made me who I am today. We’ve got a good thing going. Beyond boxing, he’s my father and I trust him with my life.
“He’s the person that will continue to make things better and better. That inspires me to be one quarter of who he is. He’s my Superman. His work ethic he provides toward us makes me want to push to be great as well. … With every fight, we are maturing.”
Indeed, while Sebastian topped his prior title victory over Tim Tszyu by stopping him after seven rounds in their rematch last month in Las Vegas, en route to an October bout against former unified welterweight champion Keith Thurman, Gabriela has stopped four of her past five foes.
She will head the hometown card that includes gifted strawweight champion Oscar Collazo in the co-main event.
“They keep giving me roses,” she said. “This has been the dream since we were little. My parents did so many sacrifices for me and my brother. All of it does not go unnoticed. Now we get to showcase it.
“Make sure you have big dreams. All you need is what’s in your heart. I’ve already reached my goal [to become undisputed champion]. But now there’s the goal of going to different weight classes and collecting [belts] all over again.”
Driving that is the simultaneous competition and inspiration with her brother. Sebastian won the first minor belt. Gabriela won the first full title. Sebastian became a unified 154lbs champion. Then, Gabriela became the youngest undisputed champion in boxing history.
She said she has taken her brother’s convincing victory over Tszyu that included a first-round knockdown as a challenge to top in her upcoming bout.
Looming behind the siblings is a third member, sister Fabiola, 11.
The Fundoras have nicknamed her “Twisted Sister,” and Fabiola has told Gabriela on a training run that she plans to become the youngest undisputed champion of all.
In the meantime, Gabriela trains for her ring return, uncertain when an opponent will test her to the point that a rivalry materializes.
“Maybe that day will never come,” she said.
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.
