Sebastian Fundora stops Keith Thurman in round six, retaining his WBC junior middleweight title

Sebastian Fundora’s advantages in height (nine inches) and reach (11 inches) over Keith Thurman were too difficult a code to crack. The latter couldn’t get close enough, and referee Thomas Tyler stopped it before his face turned from bruised and cut to disfigured.

The challenger ate a straight left hand in the opening 10 seconds of the fight and that was a microcosm of how it would go. All he could do was try to tire out Fundora by moving around him, and then he suffered another left-handed laser that buckled his knees, almost causing a knockdown in round two.

The champion opened up his attack as the fight continued and his left uppercut landed to the head and body. Thurman subsequently connected on a combination up and downstairs to start the fifth round, but his slender and taller opponent remained disciplined, frustrating him further with pressure. 

According to CompuBox, Fundora landed 36 of 80 punches in round five, which is the most Thurman has been tagged in a three-minute burst in his career. A ringside doctor quickly inspected him at the start of the sixth and allowed the fight to continue, but he had no answers anyway. 

A right hook opened a cut on his left cheek, and then Taylor stepped in between them after getting sick of watching one man retreat while getting stung with cleaving shots from both sides. Thurman protested the stoppage, and left the ring while Fundora was giving a post-fight interview, but made sure to embrace him first. The former later said at the press conference not to hire Taylor for main events again. “He just jumped in like a white rabbit, man.” The only other loss Thurman had on his résumé was a split decision to Manny Pacquiao in July of 2019. 

Fundora said that he had watched tape on Thurman, and knew the overhand left would be a weapon. Additionally, when asked about unifying, he said, “I’m the best. They all have to come to me.”

The other champions at 154 pounds are Xander Zayas (WBO, WBA) and Josh Kelly (IBF).

Former undisputed junior middleweight champ Jermell Charlo attended the fight and after, said in an interview that he wanted to fight Fundora. 

Stock rises for junior middleweight contender

Yoenis Tellez had to take minutes of rest in the third round because of a nasty head butt that broke his nose, leaking a lake of blood on the canvas. He said the pain was a 10 out of 10, but that he is a warrior, and proceeded to take control with his jab, combinations and power shots. 

He couldn’t breathe through his nose, yet he recovered his confidence with the big straight right hands in the fourth round. 

Brian Mendoza was the bigger man, and he kept many rounds close, yet Tellez was more active and effective with his aggression. The former was also cut next to the left eye by a head clash, affecting his vision in round eight. 

The judges scored the co-main event 98-92, 97-93 and 97-93 after 10 rounds. 

The first thing Tellez did in the post-fight interview was give his support to his country (Cuba), which is facing tough times because of an oil blockade, and that has worsened the energy problems, and he thanked his team. He was asked how he survived the head butt and credited his team for that, too.