Junior middleweight contender Sebastian ‘The Towering Inferno’ Fundora 20-0-1 (13) believes his 12-round unanimous decision win over Carlos Ocampo 34-2 (22) at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California on Saturday night was exactly the type of test he needed before fighting for a world title.
The 24-year-old American southpaw broke Ocampo’s 12-fight win streak by scores of 117-111, 118-110 and 119-109. Mexican Ocampo, 26, had not lost a fight since being stopped in the first round by Errol ‘The Truth’ Spence Jr 28-0 (22) in his bid for the IBF welterweight title four years ago.
“I figured with this fight, he was gonna be a tough guy because, you know, all the crap everybody was talking about him,” Fundora said at the post-fight press conference.
“You know, ‘that first-round knockout, that first-round knockout, that first-round knockout’. And with that, I knew he was gonna come out with a big heart, probably a bigger heart than anybody I ever fought because he had something to prove. And we just worked from that. We knew he was gonna be a tough guy. He obviously learned from that fight with Spence. So you know, 12 straight wins, it meant something.”
The almost six-foot-six Fundora boxed long for the opening four rounds before reverting to form and taking the fight inside.
“I felt like in the first four rounds I boxed because I wanted to not just show myself but my father and everyone else that we could box. We’d been doing that the whole camp, boxing, boxing, lots of range,” he said.
“But I felt it was moving a little too slow for me and I wanted to excite the fans, you know, give them their money’s worth, and we went in there and we banged, we did the normal Towering Inferno style and we got the fans riled up.
“I knew he was gonna come out with a big heart, probably a bigger heart than anybody I fought because he (had) something to prove. I’m pretty sure he was enjoying the fight as much as me. It was a great fight for the fans as well.”
With the win, Fundora claimed the WBC interim title, putting him in line for a shot at undisputed 154-pound champion Jermell Charlo 35-1-1 (19). He will likely have to wait for his shot against Charlo, who is widely expected to defend his WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF titles against Australia’s Tim Tszyu 21-0 (15) next early in the new year.
“I do have Charlo for the win, but you know, I wouldn’t even be surprised if Tszyu wins,” Fundora said. “Tszyu is a strong, pressure fighter and I think Charlo does have a hard time with that. But again, I think Charlo’s a harder hitter, so that’s definitely gonna be the difference.”
Asked whether Charlo can knockout Tszyu, Fundura said: “I think he can. I’m not saying he is [going to knock out Tszyu], but I think he can, yeah.”
