The amount of convincing it took Sebastian Fundora to agree to a fight with Nathaniel Gallimore was probably his shortest professional conversation.

“They asked if I’m ready to fight and I said yes,” Fundora (14-0-1, 9KOs) told BoxingScene.com. “People ask why I want to fight a tough guy like Gallimore. I always want tough fights. I’m a fighter, I’ll bump with anyone.”

Aptly nicknamed ‘The Towering Inferno,’ the 6’5 ½” junior middleweight has developed a reputation as an entertaining, all-action prospect. As much will be expected when his fight with Chicago’s Gallimore (21-4-1, 17KOs) airs live on Fox from a crowdless Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles (Saturday, 8:00pm ET).

The bout comes in supporting capacity to a welterweight fight where the winner between Shawn Porter (30-3-1, 17KOs) and Sebastian Formella (22-0, 10KOs) will be first in line for a mandatory title shot. No such guarantee comes with the evening’s chief support, as the 22-year old Fundora is still on the rise while the 32-year old Gallimore is badly in need of a win to resurrect his career.

On paper, it makes for an intriguing crossroads bout. It certainly interested Fundora to the point of dropping everything that he was doing to accept the short notice assignment.

“They told me about the fight maybe three weeks ago,” estimates Fundora, who is coming off of a 10-round win over then-unbeaten Daniel Lewis in February.

The fight came on the televised undercard of a joint Pay-Per-View between ESPN and Fox Sports, headlined by Tyson Fury’s 7th round stoppage of Deontay Wilder in their championship rematch between unbeaten heavyweights. It remains the most celebrated event of 2020, playing to a sold-out crowd of 17,698 at the MGM Grand which generated a live gate of more than $16.9 million and generating roughly 800,000 PPV buys.

It served as the last PPV event prior to the start of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which shut down the stateside boxing scene for roughly three months. Nearly all shows in the U.S. have taken place without fans in attendance since returning on a regular basis this past June. Saturday’s Fox primetime telecast will come under such circumstances, though it won’t have any bearing on Fundora’s mindset.

“It was fun being part of [Fury-Wilder 2], but it’s not why I take fights,” insists Fundora. “I’m always training, always ready for a tough fight. I’ve always said, I’ll fight anyone, anywhere, even in their backyard. Saturday night won’t be any different to me from any other fight I’ve had so far, other than it putting me one step closer to a world title.” 

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox