LAS VEGAS – Gabriela Fundora may be an undisputed world champion but that doesn’t mean she isn’t also a fan.
Fundora was one of roughly six million people to take in last weekend’s all-female card from Madison Square Garden, “and I’m thinking, ‘This is a really touching moment,’” she told BoxingScene. “It was amazing to see, and the card was sold out. And it’s an inspiration that this is what [women’s boxing] can become. If you stick to it, as long as you stick to it, the sky’s the limit.”
Fundora, 16-0 (8 KOs), who most recently stopped Marilyn Amaya to retain her flyweight belts, feels a similar responsibility to be a role model and an inspiration.
“I think it’s almost like a Wonder Woman effect,” she smiles. “It’s something that these kids have to look up to. It’s not just ‘Okay, I’m world champion,’ and that’s it. Now I have something that a little girl can aspire to. It’s a good feeling, and I take that to heart, because now it’s like, okay, well, I’ve gotta show them even more each time.”
Before she next steps in the ring herself, of course, she will be in the corner of her brother Sebastian, who will be defending his WBC junior middleweight belt in a rematch with Tim Tszyu at the MGM Grand on Saturday.
Sebastian Fundora, 22-1-1 (14 KOs), took two belts when he beat Tszyu via bloody split decision in March 2024 (he was stripped of the WBO strap in May). While not necessarily anticipating quite the cascade of crimson that accompanied their first fight, Gabriela certainly expects something dramatic, although she is predictably confident in selecting the winner.
“That is the fight to watch on the card for sure,” she says. “We already saw how the first one was, and it’s gonna be a war again. [Tszyu] keeps saying ‘He should have killed me.’ You know what I think? What’s the fun in that? What’s the fun in a quick, straight kill. How about a little torture first?”
That notwithstanding, she’s still predicting her brother to emerge a winner by “early stoppage.”
Is watching Sebastian fight any more stressful than getting in the ring herself?
“No, no,” she insists. “I train with him, so I know what he has. And I'm just excited to have the fans also recognize what I already know. They're just gonna see what I see every single day.”
