Fans are furious with PBC’s decision to replace injured Keith Thurman with the recently knocked out Sebastian Fundora as the opponent for WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu, while keeping the event on PPV for March 30th on Prime at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
With a price tag of $75, the event isn’t cheap, and fans aren’t eager to shell out that kind of dough to watch Tszyu face Fundora, who was last seen getting knocked out by Brian Mendoza in the seventh round last April.
The March 30th card May be doomed for failure now, not that it was ever expected to do well when Thurman was still on it. There was zero buzz about the event, but now things look bleak.
Fundora isn’t the crowd-pleasing sub that fans would like for them to get their money’s worth for this event. They were hoping for someone like Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis or Terence Crawford as the replacement, not the recently destroyed Fundora.
PBC Blunder: Should Have Seen This Coming
Thurman, 35, needed to be removed from the card because of a bicep injury, leaving PBC in a position where they had to scour the 154-lb division for an opponent ready and willing to face the big-punching Tszyu (24-0, 17 KOs).
It’s easy to second guess PBC from the get-go for their decision to use the inactive Thurman as Tszyu’s Opponent. ‘One Time’ Thurman is more of a relic from the past than a relevant fighter in this era of boxing.
He’s back in the Floyd Mayweather Jr. era, as that’s when Thurman was still fighting regularly. Like a lot of fighters, when Thurman got a taste of the big dough, he stopped fighting regularly, just enjoying the loot, letting his career stall while waiting for the next big payday to fall into his lap.
Thurman ruined his career singlehandedly, and PBC was foolish enough to try to use him as the opponent for Tszyu, despite only fighting three times since 2017.