WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu 24-0 (17) has a tougher assignment in front of him in late replacement Sebastian Fundora 20-1-1 (13) than he did in original opponent Keith Thurman 30-1 (22), according to pundit Tim Bradley.
The 29-year-old Tszyu of Sydney, Australia was due to headline PBC’s first pay-per-view show on Prime Video against American Thurman, 35, in a 12-round 155-pound non-title bout at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 30.
But former WBC and WBA welterweight champion Thurman suffered a biceps injury in training and was forced to withdraw from the bout.
Southpaw Fundora, 26, from Coachella, California, was scheduled to face Ukrainian puncher Serhii Bohachuk 23-1 (23) on the undercard for the vacant WBC 154-pound title. The Tszyu bout has been sanctioned for both the WBO and WBC titles.
Bradley says the late change of opponent is a potential banana peel for Tszyu.
“That is going to be difficult,” Bradley said to ProBox TV. “He is facing a southpaw, he’s been training for an orthodox fighter in a Keith Thurman and now he has to switch his camp and looking for sparring partners that size [Fundora is almost six-foot-six tall] is going to be very difficult for him.
“This is a bigger challenge, a bigger threat in my opinion, compared to Keith Thurman, who I thought was going in this fight… I didn’t have him winning this fight at all, I thought he was going to get stopped eventually by a body shot or something – being out of the ring for so long.”
Bradley added: “This is going to be a fantastic fight. You’ve got two guys, big hearts, decent skill, both guys have got punching power, coming forwards, that’s what I’m talking about.
“I’m talking about an explosion and we get to see how well they deal with adversity and to change, that’s going to be on display when they face each other.
“I’m excited about the news. Keith Thurman, get well my man, sorry you couldn’t fight, but I think this is a better fight.”
Fundora has not boxed since his dramatic seventh-round knockout loss to Brian Mendoza 22-3 (16) last April. But Bradley believes the time off may have rejuvenated him.
“I think the layoff did Fundora some good,” he said. “When you get knocked out like that, think about it, that brain, sometimes fighters go back into a fight and get activity and go back into training and sparring and so on that they keep reinjuring themselves.
“They don’t let their brain heal up, so it’s almost a year now, letting his brain heal up and come back and taking the challenge.
“I think mentally he’s going to be better in this fight for Tim Tszyu, but as far as Tim Tszyu goes, I don’t know about the style.
“The style match-up is going to be different for him, the reach is going to be a bit different for him, I see an advantage with his [Tszyu’s] sharpness and his preciseness, that’s where I see he has an advantage, because Fundora makes a ton of mistakes and if he didn’t tighten up on his defence he could wind up getting knocked out again by Tim Tszyu.”
