Previously slated to meet in October before “Towering Inferno” injured his back, Sebastian Fundora and Keith Thurman now helm an Amazon Prime PPV this coming Saturday at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand.
Bad Left Hook will have LIVE coverage of the card starting at 8:00 pm ET.
Fundora (23-1-1, 15 KO) put the screws to Tim Tszyu in their rematch last July, extending his winning streak to three since a shocking upset loss to Brian Mendoza in 2023. Thurman (31-1, 23 KO) has fought just once in the last four years, a three-round thumping of Brock Jarvis in hostile territory last March.
Can “One Time” defy the odds once again, or will Fundora once again prove himself the man to beat at 154?
Who will win Fundora vs Thurman?
Cliche though it may be, this honestly does boil down to how much Thurman has left in the tank, because as far as I can see, his style is perfectly suited for chopping down Fundora.
As much as he’s improved, Fundora still bears a number of shortcomings that his offensive prowess has to compensate for. Some of these are physiological; you can’t expect someone built like Manute Bol to move like Fred Astaire. Others, though, point to some lingering complacency. He brings his hands back low, confident that his height will keep him out of trouble, but simultaneously gets sloppy with his distance management. While we mostly remember Tszyu saying “no mas” in their rematch, it’s worth noting that he hit Fundora with some absolute bombs despite a nine-inch height difference and nearly 10-inch reach difference.
Thurman is actually taller than Tszyu by an inch and gives up just one additional inch of reach, but more than that, he’s clever enough to safely create the sorts of openings that Tszyu had to bleed for. Forcing Fundora to chase, waiting for those stilt legs of his to get out of position, and cracking him over the top is the sort of gameplan a prime Thurman could reliably execute even with the size difference.
Problem is, it’s anyone’s guess how much of “prime Thurman” remains. He was shaky in the early going against Jarvis, leaving himself open to counters with some uncharacteristically ugly lunges, and though he managed to find his sea legs and drop the hammer, Jarvis isn’t half the puzzle Fundora is.
As much as I want to call the upset and genuinely believe that Thurman will give him fits, I just can’t bring myself to pull the trigger with so many lingering questions around Thurman’s condition. Without the sort of concussive power necessary to put Fundora on the defensive, Thurman will need to lean on his legs all night, and that’s a lot of responsibility to put on 37-year-old limbs. He’ll do well when they’re both fresh, but somewhere around the halfway point, Fundora’s sheer physicality will bail him out and wear Thurman down to a competitive but clear decision win.
Prediction: Sebastian Fundora by unanimous decision
