Boxing Results: Sebastian Fundora destroys Habib Ahmed

By Boxing News - 12/06/2020 - Comments

By Aragon Garcia: Sebastian ‘The Towering Inferno’ Fundora (16-0-1, 11 KOs) stole the show last Saturday night in destroying Habib Ahmed (27-2-1, 18 KOs) by a second-round knockout on the Errol Spence Jr vs. Danny Garcia card at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The 6’6″ Fundora had Ahmed in trouble from the outset, hitting him at will, and showing no respect for his power. As Fundora said it himself afterward, that he was going to “walk through him.” Fundora had a six-inch height advantage over the 6’0″ Ahmed, but it looked even more than that.

The fight resembled a basketball player taking on a small point guard, and was a huge size mismatch from the get-go.

Ahmed stood no chance

In round two, Fundora, 22, hammered Ahmed with shots after trapping him against the ropes, which led to referee Lawrence Cole calling a stop to the fight.

Image: Boxing Results: Sebastian Fundora destroys Habib Ahmed

This was a secondary WBA junior middleweight title eliminator for Fundora. He’ll likely need to fight one more eliminator before he gets the mandatory spot to challenge WBA Super World junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo or WBA ‘regular’ 154-lb champion Erislandy Lara.

Those two WBA junior middleweight champions are a lot older than Fundora, and they both have a considerable amount of experience. Lara (27-3-3, 15 KOs) is 37, and he’s already fought the likes of Canelo Alvarez.

Charlo is 30 and is in the prime of his career. It would be wise for Fundora’s management not to rush him into a title shot against Lara or Charlo yet.

Ahmed was brought in to replace Fundora’s original opponent Jorge Cota, who was pulled from the card after testing positive for COVID. In the first round, Fundora landed a perfect uppercut that caused Ahmed’s knees to turn to jelly.

He immediately took advantage of Ahmed’s condition and landed a lot of heavy blows to the head. The referee Lawrence Cole kept a close eye on the action, and he appeared to be on the verge of stopping it at one point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko3o5io4k6M

Fundora talks Julian Williams and Tony Harrison fights

“I’d like to fight them all,” said Fundora when asked if he’d like to face Julian Willians or Tony Harrison. “This is the best division.”

“I’m ready for anybody. We were ready for Cota if he’d come in safe, and we’re ready for this guy too just like we covered all our bases,” said Fundora at the post-fight news conference.

“A win like this doesn’t surprise me because we came in prepared. I don’t want to sound cocky, but I feel like I’m meant for this. This is something I’ve worked hard for. I’ve been boxing since I was eight-years-old.

“Me and my father carry this dream, and we’re finally here. Having an audience like this feels like normal. I have to talk to my team about that, but I’m more than happy when the time comes,” said Fundora about him potentially fighting Jermell Charlo.

“Like I said, I got to talk to somebody first before we start calling out names. Hopefully, we can meet up one day. I don’t think I’m peaking yet. I’m turning 23 this month, and I still think I’m pretty young. So I still have plenty of time to grow,” Fundora said.

Julian ‘J-Rock’ Williams would be an excellent opponent for Fundora to fight next, but there’s a big difference in the level of experience between them.

Image: Boxing Results: Sebastian Fundora destroys Habib Ahmed

Former WBC junior middleweight champion Tony Harrison is maybe a little too advanced for Fundora, as he only recently lost his title to Jermell Charlo after beating him in the first fight. Before Fundora takes on Harrison, he should fight a step up contender like one of these guys:

  • Liam Smith
  • Tim Tszyu
  • Jack Culcay
  • Jarrett Hurd
  • Jeison Rosario
  • Charles Conwell

Sebastian needs to plan for a step up

“This is only my 17th fight,” said Fundora. “I plan to be in this fight for a long time, and I plan to be a champion but I’m not there yet. I have to sit down with my team and talk to my promoter, my manager, and my trainer.

“We all have to talk about stuff before I can say something by myself. For me, this is a team sport. Definitely,” said Fundora when asked if he wants to get back in the ring to fight again.

YouTube video

“Just like my last fight, I want to get right back in. I want to start of next year strong and have a lot of fights too again hopefully. We’ll see,” said Fundora.

The Towering Inferno hurt Ahmed in first

“Definitely, we saw him buckle a little bit,” said Fundora about him noticing that he’d hurt Habib Ahmed with an uppercut in the first round.

“I heard my father yell from my corner that he was already shaken, and I saw it too with my eyes.

“From then on, I thought, ‘This guy can’t take the power, so I’m just going to walk right through him.‘ Keep focused,” said Sebastian about what he learned from the Ahmed fight.

“I feel like every fight I learn something but this fight was too fast for me to learn something. I think if anything, I learned everything through camp not to take too much of a break, and to keep working, working, working.

“This is my job, and I want to take it seriously. Thank you for watching, thank you for being a fan. I plan on continuing to put on shows for you guys, and I guess see you guys at the top,” said Fundora.

Ahmed looked like he wasn’t ready for a serious fight, which made it easy for Fundora.

If Fundora is serious about wanting to challenge for a world title in 2021 or 2022, he needs to beat fighters like Tszyu, Conwell, Hurd, Rosario, or Smith first.

Image: Boxing Results: Sebastian Fundora destroys Habib Ahmed

We’ll see who Fundora’s team decides on for his next fight, but like I said, he needs to fight some of the contenders from the above list.

It might be better for Fundora to get a few more fights under his belt before he takes on J-Rock.