Fans on social media are trashing yesterday’s revealed fight between WBC junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora and Keith Thurman for October 18th in Las Vegas.
Vergil Ortiz Jr. is the WBC interim champ and should be the one challenging Fundora (23-1-1, 15 KOs) for his title. Ortiz Jr., 27, has been waiting for his title shot and is coming off back-to-back victories over Israil Madrimov and Serhii Bohachuk.
The “Dinosaur” Returns to Boxing
Ortiz Jr. ran the gauntlet to put himself in position to fight ‘The Towering Inferno’ Fundora, yet he’s being bypassed in favor of the resurrected dinosaur Thurman, brought back from the Mesozoic by PBC after being frozen on his sofa for millions of years.
A Clear “Cash-Out” Fight for Fundora
It’s a fight that shouldn’t happen, especially since Fundora has already made easy chip-shot title defenses against the washed Tim Tszyu and fringe contender Chordale Booker. For Fundora to be fighting Thurman, it suggests that he’s looking to cash in as much as he can before he’s dethroned by Vergil Jr. He knows what’s coming. So, he’s looking to get while the getting is good.
People don’t want to watch the 36-year-old Thurman (31-1, 23 KOs) being given a title shot. The soon-to-be 37-year-old ‘One Time’ has fought just once since 2022, beating second-tier fighter Brock Jarvis by a third-round knockout last March.
“BREAKING: Verbal agreement in place for Sebastian Fundora to defend his WBC 154lb title against Keith Thurman on October 18 in Las Vegas,” per Boxing Scene.
Who Thurman Should Have Fought Instead
Thurman should have to earn a title shot by defeating one of the contenders in the WBC’s top 15 rankings:
– Jaron Ennis
– Serhii Bohachuk
– Jesus Ramos Jr.
– Israil Madrimov
– Erickson Lubin
– Charles Conwell
Thurman’s chances of beating any of those fighters are virtually nonexistent. In his recent comeback fight against Brock Jarvis, he looked slow, old, and his reflexes were gone entirely.
The years haven’t been kind to ‘One Time’ in terms of his physical skills and hairline. He fights nothing like he did nine years ago in 2016, when he was still in his prime before injuries and a lack of ambition ruined what had up until then been a promising career.