WBC junior middleweight Sebastian Fundora (23-1-1, 15 KOs) looked like a machine, throwing nonstop punches to force Tim Tszyu (25-3, 18 KOs) to quit on his stool after the round ended on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Tszyu Quits After Round Seven
Tszyu had reasonably well in the seventh round, but in the last 30 seconds, Fundora unloaded on him with a steady bombardment of punches. Wisely, Tim chose not to come out for round eight.
Fundora dropped Tszyu in round one, and had him looking shell-shocked, walking around in a daze through rounds two through four. Tszyu showed signs of life in rounds five, six, and seven, but he was taking a brutal pounding from the 6’5″ Fundora.
Punch Stats
– Sebastian Fundora – 152 of 596 punches for 26%
– Tim Tszyu – 72 of 204 for 35%
“He’s not finished at the top level. He’s just not going to be able to beat Sebastian Fundora,” said Shawn Porter to Fox Sports Australia, reacting to Tszyu’s loss to Fundora tonight. “He’ll more than likely never see Sebastian again unless he’s able to truly work his way back. That’s another situation. You’ve got guys coming up.
Tszyu Not Finished at Top
“He can still get it done against elite guys,” said Porter about Tszyu. “It’s going to happen in Australia for a little while. When he comes back, there’s no telling who that name is going to be yet, but I don’t believe Tim is done on the world stage, primarily because he still fought very hard, very courageously.
“We’re now in the sport where it’s who you bring to the stands, not what your status is, your wins and your losses,” said Porter.
The fans won’t keep showing up for Tszyu’s fights in Australia forever if he continues to suffer losses. He’s going to get diminishing returns with fewer and fewer fans turning up to see him. That’s what happened to Australian George Kambosos Jr. when he started losing. He went from fighting in a huge 50,000 stadium to a smaller venue, and it shows that you have to be able to win to bring in the fans. It’s no different in Australia than it is in the U.S.
