Sebastian Fundora has Keith Thurman to thank for being a champion. Now he’ll have the opportunity to express his gratitude in the ring.
BoxingScene learned from two officials Wednesday that a verbal agreement is in place for Fundora, 23-1-1 (15 KOs), to defend his WBC junior middleweight title against former unified welterweight champion Thurman, 31-1 (23 KOs), on October 18 in Las Vegas.
Fundora, 27, was a late replacement for the injured Thurman, 36, in March 2024, and proceeded to capture the WBC and WBO belts by defeating Australia’s Tim Tszyu in a bloody split decision victory. Thurman withdrew from fighting champion Tszyu because of a biceps injury suffered in training.
Fundora repeated the victory over Tszyu by seventh-round TKO on July 19 after knocking him down in the first round and battering him with punches before Tszyu quit on his stool.
Thurman, the WBC’s No. 8-ranked contender, returned in March from a three-year layoff following a 2022 victory over current WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios and stopping Brock Jarvis by third-round TKO in Sydney.
Thurman’s lone loss came against Manny Pacquiao in 2019.
He attended Fundora’s victory over Tszyu and expressed interest in fighting the winner, but he speculated the 6ft 6ins Fundora wouldn’t return to the ring this year.
Minutes later, the triumphant Fundora insisted he would fight for a third time this year after successfully defending his belt in April with a fourth-round TKO of Chordale Booker.
The bout is being planned as a Prime Video pay-per-view card.
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.
Tom Ivers is an amateur boxer who has a masters degree in sports journalism. He had his first bout in 2013, joined BoxingScene in 2024 and is now a key part of the UK and social media teams.
