The promoter of Tim Tszyu 24-0 (17) has admitted they are taking a huge risk accepting a fight with late replacement Sebastian Fundora 20-1-1 (13) after original opponent Keith Thurman 30-1 (22) withdrew from the bout with injury.
WBO junior middleweight champion Tszyu, 29, of Sydney, Australia was set to make his Las Vegas debut against Thurman at the T-Mobile Arena on March 30 before the 35-year-old from Clearwater, Florida hurt his biceps in training.
Coachella, California’s Fundora, 26, was already scheduled to fight on the undercard so it seems a natural to move him up to the main event, which will be for both the WBO belt and the vacant WBC title.
While the almost six-foot-six southpaw Fundora presents an entirely different style in the ring to Thurman, Team Tszyu didn’t hesitate to accept the fight.
“It’s a cool headache to have,” promoter George Rose of No Limit Boxing told the Bloke In A Bar podcast. “At the end of the day we get to watch Tim Tszyu fight for unification in Vegas in 12 days’ time.
“He’s a freak of nature. How he makes the weight I have no idea. He’s an impossible opponent. It’s not an issue for Fundora because he fights six-foot guys all the time.
“It’s a blessing and a curse. The fact Fundora was on this card already, he can step up into the main event straight away. But it’s an absolute curse because he’s the bogeyman of the division. It’s such a hard fight to prepare for.
“The conversations will change to, ‘How the hell do you land one on Fundora?’
“He’s literally a guy you need a 12-week camp for. You don’t do this on 12 days, you do it on 12 weeks. Tim Tszyu’s about to do it on 12 days and that’s what’s absolutely mind-blowing to me.
“The one mentality I have is I never consider Tim Tszyu losing, so I never think about that alternate world scenario.
“I believe Tim wins every day of the week, he beats anyone who steps in the ring with him.”
Fundora will be returning to the ring after almost a year on the sidelines following his shock seventh-round knockout loss to Brian Mendoza 22-3 (16) last April.
“You’d need a great training camp, preparation and everything. He was that bogeyman that nobody wanted to go near,” Rose continued.
“Mendoza finishes him in the biggest upset of the year and suddenly people think he’s lost credibility. He’s still that same, dangerous fighter.
“How do you prepare for a guy like that with a unique shape, there’s nobody out there you can prepare with. I’ve been out there all day looking around for skinny blokes who look like they can fight.
“Fundora’s been the name who was next. He was coming for (Jermell) Charlo, he was going to take all the belts and be the next star of the super welterweight division. Obviously that all changed and Tim’s been skyrocketing in his performances since then.
“Tim’s gone on and won the belt, now Fundora’s in the position to win the WBC belt. Now it’s a unification with two belts on the line and it’s a huge opportunity for both of them.”
