LAS VEGAS – “Don’t drink, don’t smoke. What do you do?”
In the case of Sebastian Fundora, Adam Ant’s line from his early 1980s hit “Goody Two Shoes,” could be extended to noting the WBC junior middleweight champion also “don’t swear.”
It’s that puritanical approach, however, that has moved Fundora to the top of the class in boxing’s richest division and has him ascending as he moves to Saturday night’s Prime Video/PPV.COM pay-per-view title defense at MGM Grand Garden Arena versus former unified welterweight champion Keith Thurman.
“He lives a clean life,” said Tom Brown, who is helping promote the Premier Boxing Champions card. “Good things happen to good people when you do things the right way.”
At Thursday’s news conference, Thurman, 31-1 (23 KOs), again uttered an ‘F’ word at the session, and Fundora promoter Sampson Lewkowicz said the repeated incidents have angered Fundora, 23-1-1 (15 KOs).
“It’ll be a fun fight, but savage,” Lewkowicz said. “[Fundora] got upset several times about the things [Thurman] has said. I believe he will pay for it Saturday night.”
Fundora – who resides and trains in a mountainous Southern California community with his undisputed flyweight champion sister, Gabriela; father-trainer Freddy Fundora; his mother; and younger sister – said he has been raised to embrace a principled, pristine lifestyle.
“It’s not good [to swear], especially on TV when everyone’s watching. Grandmas. Mothers. There’s children watching,” Sebastian Fundora said. “I learned to respect very young, and those things are just with me.
“You go to a store and see an old lady or a woman walking by. You don’t let them walk on the outside of the sidewalk. You open the door for them. Those are the gentlemanly things. I was raised as a gentleman.”
Lewkowicz said the Fundoras are so honest that they offered to return PBC training money last year when Sebastian injured his hand and had to postpone the originally scheduled October fight versus Thurman.
“That’s the honesty of the family that doesn’t exist in boxing,” Lewkowicz said. “They’ve been with me six years, and I’ve never heard an ‘F’ word from that family. They’re so nice, respectful.”
While Sebastian Fundora agrees his family’s goodness doesn’t mesh with the typical business and social behavior of his sport, he explains, “You do have to be a little crazy to be a boxer, so I guess I can take that.
“But you can still have manners. My sister is another one who is a little more spicy than me. But she and my father have manners. Just because I go and punch people in the ring doesn’t mean I can’t be a nice guy.”
Beyond the family principles, Fundora said living remotely inspires his disciplined existence.
“When there are obstacles like the snow, living in the mountains, it keeps you focused, keeps you humble, because living that normal life is so hard, you can’t take it for granted,” he said. “It shows you you’re human and have to work for everything.”
Said Lewkowicz: “When somebody sleeps, Fundora is working.”
Fundora is a -450 betting favorite over 3/1 underdog Thurman, 37, and claiming victory could move him on to more PBC veterans, with former undisputed 154lbs champion Jermell Charlo and former three-belt welterweight champion Errol Spence Jnr in play to fight Fundora this year, according to Brown.
Spence is due to return in the summer to fight former 154lbs champion Tim Tszyu.
“I don’t know if you watch wrestling, but [it’s like WWE star] Randy Orton, the legend killer,” the 6-feet-6 Fundora said. “They’ll probably have to be changing my name to that from ‘The Towering Inferno’ if that were to happen. I’m definitely interested in something like that.”
It starts with Thurman, who tempted fate by swearing.
“The swear words catch me off guard, and I heard Sampson tell Keith, ‘[Fundora’s] on fire right now, you’ll never fight anyone like this,’” Fundora said. “You could see the little annoyance from Keith.
“He started saying, ‘I’ve been knocking guys out since I was 14.’ I’m quiet, just listening, but I‘ve been doing the same thing, too. It’s not that different. I’ve been hurting people for a long time. The curse words are just another tactic to get at me, but it doesn’t hurt me.”
Does Thurman know what punishment is coming his way?
“Not entirely, but I think he senses something,” Fundora said. “And it’s not good for him.”
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.
