LOS ANGELES – Sebastian Fundora is taking his third title fight in seven months, meeting another former world champion and honoring an unwritten code in doing so.
In a sport so often associated with unscrupulous behavior, cautious matchmaking and infrequent appearances, WBC 154lbs champion Fundora has embraced a throwback, principled mentality as his rise now takes him to his first “A” side participation in a pay-per-view.
Fundora, 23-1-1 (15 KOs), and former unified welterweight champion Keith Thurman, 31-1 (23 KOs), recently appeared at a downtown theater to formally announce their October 25 pay-per-view bout (Prime Video, PPV.COM) that tops an MGM Grand card in Las Vegas including the 130lbs title fight between WBC titleholder O’Shaquie Foster and WBC featherweight belt holder Stephen Fulton and an interim title middleweight bout between Jesus Ramos Jnr and Shane Mosley Jnr.
Victory, on the heels of his March fourth-round knockout of contender Chordale Booker and July 19 stoppage of former junior middleweight Tim Tszyu, could push Fundora atop others vying to become Fighter of the Year.
“Having three fights as a current champion is pretty active,” he told PPV.COM recently. "It’ll definitely be something that gets consideration.
“If I want to become something like the face of boxing, I’m going to have to do something special. Canelo [Alvarez] has the Mexican base, Cinco de Mayo and [Mexican Independence weekend]. Let’s make boxing a sport like basketball and football, where you can turn on the TV and see your favorite fighter fight over and over and over. We want to see the best fighter in the world, want to see who the strongest and toughest man in the world is by fighting all these times.”
After watching Fundora score a first-round knockdown of Tszyu and then batter him so frequently in the seventh that the Australian quit on his stool before the eighth-round started, Thurman told BoxingScene in July that he didn’t believe Fundora would fight again in 2025.
Instead, Fundora is not only training for next month’s return, he’s fulfilling a sort of duty to Thurman, whom Fundora replaced after Thurman suffered a biceps injury in 2024 and withdrew from fighting Tszyu.
“I see it as respect. It’s a mutual respect,” Fundora said. “I remember him from the amateurs. One of these tournaments was the [Florida] state final. I remember winning, walking past him and him telling me, ‘You need to do this and that,’ and I can remember thinking, ‘Who’s this guy in the ponytail telling me things? He’s not my coach.’
“Later on, I figured out that was Keith Thurman. I was grateful for that moment. And I’m grateful for this fight. It’s going to be a great one. Growing up, he was boxing to me, watching him fight all these great fighters [Shawn Porter, Danny Garcia, Manny Pacquiao]. Now, being here with him, it’s great for me.”
Thurman repeated the refrain “Timber!” during Thursday’s event, a poke at Fundora’s 6ft 6in frame, but Fundora, 27, said he’s not expecting to lose to the 36-year-old who has fought just twice since his 2019 title loss to Pacquiao.
“I have no concerns with Keith Thurman, none at all,” Fundora said. “But that’s a good boxing mentality [for Thurman] to have. That’s what made Keith Thurman a champion. But now it’s my time, and my turn to knock him out.”
Fundora’s improvement since contending for and winning the WBC belt has been obvious.
“All these things are lining up," Fundora said. "Our father [trainer Freddy Fundora] told us a long time ago all these things would happen. We just need to follow the path. Now we’re here as a champion fighting another former champion on a pay-per-view card. Everything’s gone right, and you’re seeing the results.”
Fundora and his undisputed flyweight champion sister, Gabriela, have accomplished an unprecedented brother-sister act as simultaneous champions.
Gabriela will defend her belts Saturday night in Indio, California.
They credit their training methods in the mountains of Southern California for their effectiveness.
“The fact that he wants it done our own way, this is how we came up in the sport. This is how we’ll end it,” Fundora said. “My sister watches me, to avoid mistakes.”
“We listen. Too many in boxing have a selfish attitude and won’t listen to their team. Our coach tells us to do something, we do it. Run at 6 in the morning, spar, run the mountains. Listen and do your job and you won’t get tired.”
Fundora said his father deserves Trainer of the Year attention more than the Fighter of the Year focus he’ll receive by defeating Thurman.
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.
