LOS ANGELES – Sebastian Fundora cannot wait to introduce another member of his family to the boxing world.
The undefeated Fundora’s younger sister, Gabriela, has been boxing since she was 6 years old and was a decorated amateur. She’ll take a step up in professional competition on her older brother’s undercard Saturday night at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, where Gabriela Fundora (8-0, 4 KOs, 1 NC) will meet Mexico’s Naomi Arellano Reyes (9-1, 5 KOs) in a 10-round flyweight fight Showtime will stream on its YouTube channel.
“I’m very, very excited for that,” Sebastian Fundora told BoxingScene.com. “I’m very proud of her, but I feel like this is what she deserves. She’s very talented. I feel like she’s the most talented fighter in our family. So, for her to get this stage is something that she deserves. Hopefully, next time she gets to fight on the TV card. But one step at a time. She’s only 20 years old, but you’ll be seeing her with a world title around her waist in a little bit.”
Sebastian Fundora (19-0-1, 13 KOs) will defend his WBC interim 154-pound championship against Mexico’s Carlos Ocampo (34-1, 22 KOs) in a “Showtime Championship Boxing” main event. The 6-foot-6, 24-year-old southpaw has become one of the most fascinating fighters in boxing, but he predicted prior to a press conference Thursday at The Westin Los Angeles Airport that Gabriela also will be part of a transformative time in women’s boxing that began with the memorable Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano lightweight title fight April 30 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
“I think girls boxing is growing rapidly, but my sister will also be part of that cause,” Sebastian Fundora said. “She’s an exciting fighter and I just can’t wait for her to have that stage to show herself, and show all the work she’s been doing.”
Their father, Freddy Fundora, has trained Sebastian, Gabriela and their four siblings since they were kids at their family’s boxing gym in Coachella, California.
“I remember in the amateurs, she always won,” Sebastian Fundora said. “She’s bringing it into the professionals as well. Now she’s coming with more maturity and more power, that type of stuff. I can talk big about my sister all day, but you guys are gonna see it. She definitely is something to watch.”
Showtime’s coverage on its YouTube channel is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. ET and 4:30 p.m. PT. Following the Fundora-Reyes bout, Lithuanian welterweight contender Egidijus Kavaliauskas (22-2-1, 18 KOs) and American Mykal Fox (22-3, 5 KOs), of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, will square off in another 10-rounder.
Showtime’s three-bout broadcast on the network will begin at 10 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. PT.
The Dominican Republic’s Carlos Adames (21-1, 16 KOs) and Mexico’s Juan Macias Montiel (23-5-2, 23 KOs) will square off in the network’s 12-round co-feature for the WBC’s vacant interim middleweight title. Argentina’s Fernando Martinez (14-0, 8 KOs) and the Philippines’ Jerwin Ancajas (33-2-2, 22 KOs) are set to fight for Martinez’s IBF junior bantamweight championship in the 12-round opener of Showtime’s telecast, an immediate rematch of Martinez’s 12-round, unanimous-decision win February 26 at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
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