By Rocky Morales at ringside
In a twelve round WBC super welterweight eliminator, 23-year-old, 6’5” Sebastian “Towering Inferno” Fundora (18-0-1, 12KO) was the unanimous decision winner over previously undefeated Sergio Garcia (33-1, 14KO). Judges scored it 118-110, 117-111 and 115-113 and it seemed closer than the first two scorecards.
It was Garcia’s first time fighting in the USA and he entered as the WBC #2 contender while Fundora entered as the WBC #4 contender.
From the onset, Garcia seemed completely befuddled by the height of Fundora and Fundora was able to use his tremendous 6” height advantage and reach advantage over Garcia. Fundora was not only boxing well from the outside but also during infighting and would frequently land uppercuts.
By the middle rounds, Garcia was able to make it more of a brawl but Fundora, more often than not, was winning the exchanges.
By rounds nine and ten, action really slowed and this seemed to favor Garcia who seemed to be closing the gap on the scorecards. In the final round, Fundora seemed to find a second wind and finished the fight with a flurry to edge out his very determined Spanish challenger.
With the victory, Fundora becomes the WBC mandatory challenger to Jermell Charlo.
117-111, 118-110 LOL
Davis better not underestimate Cruz or else he will catch a shocker in L.A.
That was a subpar un-Fundora like performance by Fundora. He was throwing light punches, rarely set down to throw hard shots, and didn’t let his hands go for numerous stretches during the fight. He has been known for his volume punching but never did throw combinations like he normally does.
Garcia did his best but had a hard time getting by the long reach and size of Fundora. He had his moments but there were not enough of them. He is a slick boxer but had to fight an aggressive fight to get his punches in. That is not his normal style but he did a credible job of putting pressure on Fundura during the entire fight.
It was a good win by Fundora, but he could have fought a much better fight by letting his hands go a lot more. He is a hard guy to beat because of his physical advantages, but he can’t afford to fight like he did tonight against the top fighters at 154 lbs.
I am not sure how a fighter prepares for a guy (Fundora) who is a tallest freak of nature (lower weight) in the history of boxing.
Anyhow, it appears cracking the “Fundora Code,” requires a fighter with nice upper body movements; a firm believer of inside fighting; a good chin; and good pop. Fundora will need to work on returning his hands into defensive position during/after his punches or else somebody will eventually clip him with a hook.
Although he has flaws, Fundora’s historic height and reach will cause problems for everybody in his weight class.
By the way, will anybody solve the historic, “Fundora Code?”
Draw
As spanish as Sergio Garcia is, I am very proud about his performance against somebody so difficult as Fundora is. He put all for winning but I am afraid it wasn’t enough. Agree with 115-113, the 118-110 is a joke.
Fundora will rule in numerous weight classes as he grows and matures… Not too sure he’s ready for Charlo just yet… He’s young and still perfecting his craft beautifully, take it slow .. you’ll get there eventually and rule for quite some time… THe older and heavier you get, I see you going through all the weight classes and end up heavyweight championof the world…
Fundora has a lot to learn before he faces top guys. Punches are way to wide and he doesn’t use his reach properly. And he is so easy to hit with an overhand right. Lot of work needs to be done.
6’5″ at that weight??? Damn. He will most likely end up at light heavy around the age of 30.