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Sebastian Fundora Elbows Past Tim Tszyu in a Bloodbath

Sebastian Fundora Elbows Past Tim Tszyu in a Bloodbath
The word on the street in Las Vegas was that tickets were easy to come by for the maiden venture of Amazon Prime PPV into the sport of boxing. But from an artistic standpoint, it was a successful debut. The animated crowd at the T-Mobile Arena was treated to a very entertaining show.
The main event produced a big upset when Sebastian Fundora scored a split decision over Tim Tzsyu, prevailing by scores of 116-112 and 115-113 with the dissenting judge favoring Tszyu 116-112. Although the verdict wasn’t controversial – Fundora won all the punch stats — there was an extenuating circumstance.
Near the end of the second round, Tszyu ducked low as he was pressing forward and ran into Fundora’s bony left elbow. The collision opened a deep cut on Tszyu’s hairline. It bled copiously in each succeeding round, impairing his vision.
Fundora, the “Towering Inferno,” was almost a full head taller than Tszyu’s original opponent Keith Thurman. Tszyu had trouble getting inside Fundora’s 80-inch reach as the challenger pecked away at the cut that periodically shrouded Tsyzu’s face in a mask of blood. With the victory, Sebastian and his 22-year-old sister Gabriela became the first brother-sister combo to be recognized as world champions by a legitimate sanctioning body. Gabriela Fundora won the IBF flyweight title in her twelfth pro fight.
It was the first pro loss for Sydney’s Tim Tszyu (24-1) who was fighting in the city where his Hall of Fame father Kostya Tszyu was 5-0. Fundora, who captured the WBO world 154-pound title after getting knocked out in his previous fight, improved to 21-1-1.
Co-Feature
Mexico City’s Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz, a third-generation prizefighter, has an apt nickname. The stumpy Cruz (26-2-1, 18 KOs) rarely takes a backward step, suffocating his opponents with his non-stop pressure. Tonight, he wrested the WBA world 140-pound title with an eighth-round stoppage of Rolly Romero who was making the first defense of the title he won with a controversial stoppage of ancient Ismael Barroso
The “Pitbull,” who entered the ring a consensus 3/1 favorite, took charge in the very first round. After round seven, another dominant round for the Mexican, Romero was on a short leash. The end came in the next frame when Cruz, with the crowd in his corner, launched a volley of head shots that forced referee Tom Taylor to waive it off. The official time was 0:56 of round eight. Romero (15-2) was never off his feet, but had a point deducted in round five for holding.
Also
Erislandy Lara, who turns 41 next month, may have punched his ticket to the Hall of Fame with a second-round stoppage of Australia’s Michael Zerafa. A right-left combination knocked Zerafa on his rump. He beat the count, but his balance was compromised when he got to his feet and the fight was properly stopped. The official time was 2:59 of round two,
Lara, the “American Dream” who escaped Cuba on his second attempt and had his first pro fight in Turkey, improved his ledger to 30-3 (18 KOs). A former tile-holder at 154, he was making the second defense of the WBA world middleweight title he won with a first-round KO of limited Thomas LaManna. Melbourne’s Zerafa, who declined to 31-5, was accompanied to the ring by his new trainers, Mr. and Mrs. (Nonito and Rachel) Donaire.
In the pay-per-view opener, an entertaining flyweight skirmish, Julio Cesar Martinez successfully defended his WBC world title by the narrowest of margins, scoring a majority decision (13-113, 114-112 twice) over spunky Angelino Cordova. In the opening minute of the third round, Martinez decked Cordova twice with hard jabs that landed right on the button. It seemed that Martinez, a consensus 16/5 favorite, would win a mid-fight stoppage but the Venezuelan challenger fought his way back into the fight.
Mexico’s Martinez (21-3, 2 NC) has lost only once in his last 24 fights, that coming when he moved up in weight and lost a 12-round decision to Chocolatito Gonzalez. It was the first pro loss for Cordova (18-1-1).
Prelims
Serhii Bohachuk, 23-1 heading in with 23 knockouts, was forced to go the distance for the first time, but arguably turned in the best performance of his career with a wide 12-round decision over Albuquerque native Brian Mendoza. The judges had it 118-110 and 117-111 twice.
Bohachuk, with Manny Flores in his corner, kept up the pressure throughout and was credited with landing 313 more punches. Mendoza retained his distinction of having been never knocked down, but ended the contest with the left side of his face badly swollen.
Curmel Moton, a 17-year-old protégé of Floyd Mayweather whitewashed LA’s Antony Cuba in an 8-round junior lightweight affair. Although Moton won every round, Cuba landed a few good shots and was never off his feet.
This was the third pro fight for Moton who stopped his first two opponents in the opening round and the first loss for the 21-year-old Cuba (7-1-2) who showed a lot of heart in lasting the distance.
In an off-TV fight of note, 23-year-old Argentine featherweight Mirco Cuello, a Tokyo Olympian, improved to 14-0 (11) with a unanimous 8-round decision over Ugandan southpaw Sulaiman Segawa (15-4-1). All four of Segawa’s losses have come against undefeated opponents.
Postscript: The busiest man in the arena was the noted trainer Ismael Salas who had three fighters on the card: Rolly Romero, Erislandy Lara, and Brian Mendoza. It wasn’t Salas’s best night. His team went 1-2.
Photo credit: Al Applerose
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Bombs Away in Las Vegas where Inoue and Espinoza Scored Smashing Triumphs

Japan’s Naoya “Monster” Inoue banged it out with Mexico’s Ramon Cardenas, survived an early knockdown and pounded out a stoppage win to retain the undisputed super bantamweight world championship on Sunday.
Japan and Mexico delivered for boxing fans again after American stars failed in back-to-back days.
“By watching tonight’s fight, everyone is well aware that I like to brawl,” Inoue said.
Inoue (30-0, 27 KOs), and Cardenas (26-2, 14 KOs) and his wicked left hook, showed the world and 8,474 fans at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas that prizefighting is about punching, not running.
After massive exposure for three days of fights that began in New York City, then moved to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and then to Nevada, it was the casino capital of the world that delivered what most boxing fans appreciate- pure unadulterated action fights.
Monster Inoue immediately went to work as soon as the opening bell rang with a consistent attack on Cardenas, who very few people knew anything about.
One thing promised by Cardenas’ trainer Joel Diaz was that his fighter “can crack.”
Cardenas proved his trainer’s words truthful when he caught Inoue after a short violent exchange with a short left hook and down went the Japanese champion on his back. The crowd was shocked to its toes.
“I was very surprised,” said Inoue about getting dropped. ““In the first round, I felt I had good distance. It got loose in the second round. From then on, I made sure to not take that punch again.”
Inoue had no trouble getting up, but he did have trouble avoiding some of Cardenas massive blows delivered with evil intentions. Though Inoue did not go down again, a look of total astonishment blanketed his face.
A real fight was happening.
Cardenas, who resembles actor Andy Garcia, was never overly aggressive but kept that left hook of his cocked and ready to launch whenever he saw the moment. There were many moments against the hyper-aggressive Inoue.
Both fighters pack power and both looked to find the right moment. But after Inoue was knocked down by the left hook counter, he discovered a way to eliminate that weapon from Cardenas. Still, the Texas-based fighter had a strong right too.
In the sixth round Inoue opened up with one of his lightning combinations responsible for 10 consecutive knockout wins. Cardenas backed against the ropes and Inoue blasted away with blow after blow. Then suddenly, Cardenas turned Inoue around and had him on the ropes as the Mexican fighter unloaded nasty combinations to the body and head. Fans roared their approval.
“I dreamed about fighting in front of thousands of people in Las Vegas,” said Cardenas. “So, I came to give everything.”
Inoue looked a little surprised and had a slight Mona Lisa grin across his face. In the seventh round, the Japanese four-division world champion seemed ready to attack again full force and launched into the round guns blazing. Cardenas tried to catch Inoue again with counter left hooks but Inoue’s combos rained like deadly hail. Four consecutive rights by Inoue blasted Cardenas almost through the ropes. The referee Tom Taylor ruled it a knockdown. Cardenas beat the count and survived the round.
In the eighth round Inoue looked eager to attack and at the bell launched across the ring and unloaded more blows on Cardenas. A barrage of 14 unanswered blows forced the referee to stop the fight at 45 seconds of round eight for a technical knockout win.
“I knew he was tough,” said Inoue. “Boxing is not that easy.”
Espinoza Wins
WBO featherweight titlist Rafael Espinosa (27-0, 23 KOs) uppercut his way to a knockout win over Edward Vazquez (17-3, 4 KOs) in the seventh round.
“I wanted to fight a game fighter to show what I am capable,” said Espinoza.
Espinosa used the leverage of his six-foot, one-inch height to slice uppercuts under the guard of Vazquez. And when the tall Mexican from Guadalajara targeted the body, it was then that the Texas fighter began to wilt. But he never surrendered.
Though he connected against Espinoza in every round, he was not able to slow down the taller fighter and that allowed the Mexican fighter to unleash a 10-punch barrage including four consecutive uppercuts. The referee stopped the fight at 1:47 of the seventh round.
It was Espinoza’s third title defense.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank
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Undercard Results and Recaps from the Inoue-Cardenas Show in Las Vegas

The curtain was drawn on a busy boxing weekend tonight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas where the featured attraction was Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue appearing in his twenty-fifth world title fight.
The top two fights (Inoue vs. Roman Cardenas for the unified 122-pound crown and Rafael Espinoza vs. Edward Vazquez for the WBO world featherweight diadem) aired on the main ESPN platform with the preliminaries streaming on ESPN+.
The finale of the preliminaries was a 10-rounder between welterweights Rohan Polanco and Fabian Maidana. A 2020/21 Olympian for the Dominican Republic, Polanco was a solid favorite and showed why by pitching a shutout, punctuating his triumph by knocking Maidana to his knees late in the final round with a hard punch to the pit of the stomach.
Polanco improved to 16-0 (10). Argentina’s Maidana, the younger brother of former world title-holder Marcos Maidana, fell to 24-4 while maintaining his distinction of never being stopped.
Emiliano Vargas, a rising force in the 140-pound division with the potential to become a crossover star, advanced to 14-0 (12 KOs) with a second-round stoppage Juan Leon. Vargas, who turned 21 last month, is the son of former U.S. Olympian Fernando Vargas who had big money fights with the likes of Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya. Emiliano knocked Leon down hard twice in round two – both the result of right-left combinations — before Robert Hoyle waived it off.
A 28-year-old Spaniard, Leon was 11-2-1 heading in.
In his U.S. debut, 29-year-old Japanese southpaw Mikito Nakano (13-0, 12 KOs) turned in an Inoue-like performance with a fourth-round stoppage of Puerto Rico’s Pedro Medina. Nakano, a featherweight, had Medina on the canvas five times before referee Harvey Dock waived it off at the 1:58 mark of round four. The shell-shocked Medina (16-2) came into the contest riding a 15-fight winning streak.
Lynwood, California junior middleweight Art Barrera Jr, a 19-year-old protégé of Robert Garcia, scored a sixth-round stoppage of Chicago’s Juan Carlos Guerra. There were no knockdowns, but the bout had turned sharply in Barrera’s favor when referee Thomas Taylor intervened. The official time was 1:15 of round six.
Barrera improved to 9-0 (7 KOs). The spunky but outclassed Guerra, who upset Nico Ali Walsh in his previous outing, declined to 6-2-1.
In the lid-lifter, a 10-round featherweight affair, Muskegon Michigan’s Ra’eese Aleem improved to 22-1 (12) with a unanimous decision over LA’s hard-trying Rudy Garcia (13-2-1). The judges had it 99-01, 98-92, and 97-93.
Aleem, 34, was making his second start since June of 2023 when he lost a split decision in Australia to Sam Goodman with a date with Naoya Inoue hanging in the balance.
Check back shortly for David Avila’s recaps of the two world title fights.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank
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Canelo Alvarez Upends Dancing Machine William Scull in Saudi Arabia

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who has acquired a new nickname – “The Face of Boxing” – is accustomed to fighting on Cinco De Mayo weekend, but this year was different. For the first time, Canelo was fighting outside the continent of North America and entering the ring at an awkward hour. His match with William Scull started at 6:30 on a Sunday morning in Riyadh.
In the opposite corner was 32-year-old William Scull, an undefeated (23-0) Cuban by way of Germany, whose performance was better suited to “Dancing With the Stars” than to a world title fight. Constantly bouncing from side to side but rarely letting his hands go, Scull frustrated Canelo who found it near-impossible to corner him, but one can’t win a fight solely on defense and the Mexican superstar was returned the rightful winner in a bout that was a fitting cap to a desultory two days of Saudi-promoted prizefighting. The scores were 115-113, 116-112, and 119-109. In winning, Canelo became a fully unified super middleweight champion twice over.
Terence Crawford was in attendance and HE Turki Alalshikh made it official: Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) and Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) will meet in the Fight of the Century (Alalshikh’s words) on Sept. 12 in Las Vegas at the home of the city’s NFL team, the Raiders. For whatever it’s worth, each of Canelo’s last seven fights has gone the full 12 rounds.
Semi-wind-up
In a match between the WBC world cruiserweight title-holder and the WBC world cruiserweight “champion in recess” (don’t ask), the former, Badou Jack, brought some clarity to the diadem by winning a narrow decision over Noel Mikaelian. One of the judges had it a draw (114-114), but the others gave the fight to “Jack the Ripper” by 115-113 scores.
A devout Muslim who is now a full-time resident of Saudi Arabia, the Sweden-born Jack, a three-division title-holder, had the crowd in his corner. Now 41 years old, he advanced his record to 29-3-3 (17). It was the first pro loss for Mikaelian (27-1), a Florida-based Armenian who was subbing for Ryan Rozicki.
The distracted CompuBox operator credited Mikaelian with throwing 300 more punches but there was no controversy.
Tijuana’s Jaime Munguia, a former junior middleweight title-holder, avenged his shocking loss to Bruno Sarace with a unanimous 12-round decision in their rematch. This was Munguia’s first fight with Eddy Reynoso in his corner. The scores were 117-111 and 116-112 twice.
Surace’s one-punch knockout of Munguia in mid-December in Tijuana was the runaway pick for the 2024 Upset of the Year. Heading in, Munguia was 44-1 with his lone defeat coming at the hands of Canelo Alvarez. Munguia had won every round against Surace before the roof fell in on him.
Surace won a few rounds tonight, but Munguia was the busier fighter and landed the cleaner shots. It was the first pro loss for Surace (26-1-2) and ended his 23-fight winning streak. The Frenchman hails for Marseilles.
Heavyweights
In a 10-round heavyweight match fought at a glacial pace, Martin Bakole (21-2-1) and Efe Ajagba (20-1-1) fought to a draw. One of the judges favored Ajagba 96-94 but he was outvoted by his cohorts who each had it 95-95.
Bakole, a 7/2 favorite, came in at 299 pounds, 15 more than he carried in his signature win over Jared Anderson, and looked sluggish. He was never able to effectively close off the ring against the elusive Ajagba who fought off his back foot and failed to build on his early lead.
The fight between the Scotch-Congolese campaigner Bakole and his Nigerian-American foe was informally contested for the heavyweight championship of Africa. That “title” remains vacant.
In a 6-rounder, heavy-handed Cuban light heavyweight Brayon Leon, a stablemate of Canelo Alvarez, was extended the distance for the first time while advancing his record to 7-0 at the expense of Mexico’s Aaron Roche (11-4-1). Leon knocked Roche to the canvas in the fourth round with a right-left combination, but the Mexican stayed the course while eating a lot of hard punches.
Photo credit: Leigh Dawney / Queensberry Promotions
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