Sebastian Fundora, 6’5″, towered over the 5’9″ WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu today during their media workout for their upcoming 12-round headliner clash on March 30th on Prime PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Tszyu (24-0, 17 KOs) may have more problems than boxing fans suspect with the lanky giant Fundora (20-1-1, 13 KOs) for their two-belt unification fight.
These two looked like they didn’t belong in the same ring when they stood for the face-off today, Fundora craning his neck to look down on the smallish Tszyu.
Fundora’s Reach: A Potential Nightmare for Tszyu
Fundora will enjoy an 8-inch height and a whopping 10-inch reach advantage in this fight over the 29-year-old Tszyu.
For the fans who have been dismissing Fundora’s chances since he was named as the replacement for injured Keith Thurman, they may be mistaken.
Fundora has the size to transform Tszyu’s face into a similar swelled-up mess as he did against Erickson Lubin in their fight in April 2022. Tszyu is an excellent puncher, but if he can’t hurt Fundora, he will be in for a pasting he won’t soon forget.
Adapting on the Fly: Tszyu’s Sparring Strategy
“How quick it happened. I found out the news on Sunday, and the boys were in on Monday. I’m grateful for them to give me that type of work,” said Tim Tszyu to Premier Boxing Champions about how quickly he was able to get tall sparring partners to help him begin training for the 6’5″ replacement opponent, Sebastian Fundora, for his March 30th fight on Prime PPV.
Fundora is a different type of puzzle for Tszyu to attempt to solve, and it may not help how much sparring he does in the small amount of time he has to prepare for this giant.
“A week’s prep to fight a fighter like that. It’s David vs. Goliath. This fight is awkward. You’ve got someone that tall and lanky and has a completely different style to Thurman, someone I’ve been prepping for eight weeks. Nothing phases me, nothing worries me.
“This is a unification. The WBC is coming on board, which I’m grateful for. It’s another legacy-defining fight. There’s not much to say. He has the height and that’s how he fights. Hopefully, find the right shots.
“Mendoza caught him with a clean punch. It didn’t take much, and that’s all it took,” said Tszyu about Fundora’s knockout loss to Brian Mendoza last April.
