
Brian Mendoza: record, next fight and profile →


Sebastian Fundora knows that the stakes of Saturday's fight with Tim Tszyu include the crowning of "the new king at 154" pounds. But do they also include unlocking a space in the International Boxing Hall of Fame for his fight manager?

In a battle between unbeaten prospects, Curmel Moton will take on Anthony Cuba in a six-round junior lightweight tilt on the non-televised undercard of the Tim Tszyu-Sebastian Fundora fight Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Undefeated rising star Tim Tszyu will take on all-action contender Sebastian “The Towering Inferno” Fundora for Tszyu’s WBO title (pending approval), and the vacant WBC 154-pound world title, headlining a PBC Pay-Per-View event available on Prime Video Saturday, March 30 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“The Towering Inferno” Sebastian Fundora promises to reignite his flame when he steps back in the ring for a firefight against Serhii Bohachuk on March 30 for the vacant WBC super welterweight title.

Sebastian Fundora received a devastating reminder regarding focus last April 8. The then-undefeated Fundora comfortably outboxed Brian Mendoza during the first six rounds of their fight that night for Fundora’s WBC interim super welterweight title. The 6-foot-6 southpaw shut out Mendoza on the scorecards of

By Keith Idec - No one saw it coming. No one, that is, other than Brian Mendoza. The junior middleweight contender was well aware that Sebastian Fundora’s defensive deficiencies made the 6-foot-6 southpaw susceptible to left hooks. Though undoubtedly down on the scorecards entering the seventh round April 8 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, Mendoza realized that if he could connect cleanly with one of his left hooks that he could change the course of their 12-round fight for Fundora’s WBC interim super welterweight title.

By Keith Idec - Robeisy Ramirez’s optional opponent stood 6-foot-1, highly unusual for featherweights. Rafael Espinoza still wasn’t supposed to be this tall of an order for the heavily favored former WBO 126-pound champion December 9. It was evident early in their 12-round title fight, though, that the relentless Espinoza posed problems for Ramirez that the Cuban southpaw didn’t anticipate in what emerged as BoxingScene.com’s 2023 “Upset of the Year.”

It can’t be easy. No matter what you do, the last name always comes first. Tim Tszyu will always be compared against his father, the great junior welterweight Kostya Tszyu. Tszyu, Gen 2.0, is proving up to the task.

Brian Mendoza’s conditioning, determination and toughness enabled him to somehow withstand Tim Tszyu’s onslaught in the 11th round Sunday afternoon.