This weekend, inside MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Keith Thurman will become the latest fighter to understand what it’s like to take on Sebastian Fundora, the spidery six-foot-five WBC junior middleweight beltholder.
Five fighters who have faced the 23-1-1 (15 KOs) Fundora’s unique arsenal explain what it’s like to be on the wrong end of those long arms and, in turn, suggest ways that Thurman, 31-1 (23 KOs), might be able to nullify them.
Tim Tszyu failed not once but twice when tasked with beating Fundora, losing a split decision in 2024 before being stopped in seven the following year.
“Fundora’s biggest advantage is the number of punches he throws in a round,” said Tszyu. “It’s the fact that he doesn’t let anyone rest. Because he’s so tall, he’s able to just punch and punch without using too much energy. That’s his biggest strength.
“He’s a bit of a nightmare, but he’s also easy to hit. But he’s also tough as hell, he gets hit and keeps coming. It’s hard to be strategic. When you fight Fundora, expect that you’re gonna be in one of the hardest fights.”
In between fights against Tszyu, Fundora took on Chordale Booker, who had a moment early in the first round of their fight that made him realize he was in for an even more challenging task than he expected.
“It’s already hard to fight somebody as tall as Sebastian, but it’s that length that he has,” said Booker, who was halted in the fourth round. “He came out and threw the jab and I remember the first thing I did was pull, and he still hit me. I trained for a guy who was tall and gave up his height, but when he came to fight me he had just had the first fight with Tszyu, and he clearly had worked on his range. That made it a difficult fight for me.”
Tszyu had similar problems.
“I was just throwing haymakers without even looking and every time that happened I was swinging at air,” said Tszyu. “Because of his reach and his awkwardness and that he can take a step back and be completely out of the way, he’s got big strengths. The most challenging part was that there was no wasted energy from him. The amount of work that I had to do in a round, compared to him, my energy was much more wasted.”
Long before Tszyu came Jamontay Clark who surprised many in 2019 by holding Fundora to a 10-round draw.
“It was an intense fight,” said Clark. “Every time a new round would start, he would smile over at me and I was like, okay, here we go again. I knew I had to be on top of my game. When we fought, Fundora was really all pressure. But watching his last couple fights, it looks like he’s started to sit back on his back foot more and try to pop the jab. I feel like he doesn’t bring his jab hand back all the way fast enough, but he’s so tall that he can usually get away with it.”
Three years later Erikson Lubin survived a second-round knockdown to drop Fundora in the seventh. He would be pulled out after the ninth, however.
“Fighting Sebastian Fundora is a challenge for sure,” said Lubin. “He’s just something you don’t see at this weight class. He’s a great fighter who brings the fight. He makes every fighter have to engage with him. He takes up a lot of space in the ring and it was a different kind of challenge for me.”
Not all have failed to beat Fundora, though. His lone defeat came in 2023 when Brian Mendoza sent Fundora down and out with one blow in the seventh round. He has some heartening advice for Thurman.
“Fighting Fundora is definitely something that you can’t truly prepare for,” said Mendoza. “You need tons of lateral movement, which I think Thurman has, and you need to be able to cross up his angles.
“I don’t think people really noticed my lateral movement in our fight. They saw him getting downhill and landing on me, but they didn’t notice how many shots I got out of the way of. I think Thurman is a big threat because he knows how to get you to cross your feet up and get you to come in with that leaping hook. You saw in my fight with Fundora that it can be his kryptonite.”
Thurman himself is under no illusion he’s in for an easy night.
“Fundora is like a walking obstacle course for anyone in the division,” he observed. “He’s a freak of nature and it’s gonna be challenging. He’s let people on the inside in the past and I’m not sure he can just pepper me with that jab all night like against Tszyu, because I’m not gonna be standing straight up. I have good head movement and bobbing and weaving tactics. We believe that we’ll be able to get inside, be explosive and make up for that gap and eventually get our hands on Fundora.”
