| |
|
|
WBC Super Welterweight World Champion Sebastian Fundora
Delivers 12th-Round Stoppage Of Mandatory Challenger Ermal
Hadribeaj
Photos: Cris Esqueda - PBC
WBC Super Welterweight World Champion Sebastian “The
Towering Inferno” Fundora closed the show in style
Saturday night with a final second 12th-round knockout
of undefeated mandatory challenger Ermal Hadribeaj in
the main event of “The Fight” live on TNT and DAZN from
The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and
presented by Premier Boxing Champions.
"It was an interesting fight,” said Fundora. “I had to
go back and fight on the inside and show everyone again
that I can still do that. It was dramatic to knock him
out at the last second. But we'll go back to the gym and
fix some things.”
Fundora’s (25-1-1, 17 KOs) fourth world title defense
saw the reigning champion weather an early storm from a
game Hadribeaj (23-1-1, 8 KOs), who was determined to
end the night as Albania’s first boxing world champion.
After round one saw him effectively circle and jab his
towering opponent, the fight quickly turned into a phone
booth battle with both men looking to do damage on the
inside.
The strategy to stay on the inside of Fundora led to
referee Thomas Taylor twice taking away points from
Hadribeaj for holding (rounds three and 11), but allowed
the challenger to smother much of Fundora’s early
offense. As the fight transitioned to the middle rounds,
Fundora’s tremendous work rate eventually began to work
through as an onslaught of uppercuts and body shots
slowly but surely diminished Hadribeaj’s offense.
Overall, Fundora out landed Hadribeaj 202-144 and
connected on 56 body shots according to CompuBox.
"I told the ref in the fourth round that I was hurting
him,” said Fundora. “I kept landing body shots and was
looking for that special shot to get him out of there. I
was hitting him in the rib cage the whole time with the
left hand and when I went up the middle, I heard the
noise that he made. So I just kept touching that and
knew it would break him.”
Once again showing a tremendous reserve of energy,
Fundora kept that work rate up through round 11, landing
18 more power shots. In the end, Fundora was once again
too much for his competition, blasting Hadribeaj with a
power left in the closing seconds that sent Hadribeaj
down hard and led to the referee ruling the fight a
knockout. The official stoppage came at 2:59 of round
12.
After the fight, Fundora was asked about a potential
undisputed 154-pound matchup against the winner of a
Jaron Ennis vs. Josh Kelly unification.
"I want to go for undisputed in this division,” said
Fundora. “We'll break either Jaron Ennis or Josh Kelly
down. Just like the last guy and the guy before that.
We'll keep breaking them down."
In the co-main event former world champion Armando
“Toro” Reséndiz (17-3, 11 KOs) earned a unanimous
decision over Australian contender Koen Mazoudier
(16-5-1, 6 KOs) in an instant classic slugfest that saw
both men land over 150 power punches across 10 rounds in
the super middleweight division. Reséndiz took the fight
by the scores of 98-92 and 97-93 twice.
"We pulled this off because we had great preparation,”
said Reséndiz. “This was the kind of fight that I
expected.”
"I had a lot of battles coming into this fight stepping
up in weight against a tough opponent,” said Mazoudier.
“We gave him a hard fight. I thought I won more than two
or three rounds, but he's a tough, strong fighter. I
hope to be back putting on more shows and get the win
next time.”
The action heated up in round two as Reséndiz and
Mazoudier each declared their desire to go toe-to-toe,
with neither taking a step back across the ensuing
rounds. Reséndiz looked in control over the first five
rounds, using a strong body attack to open up power
shots upstairs on his way to building up a 94-58 edge in
power shots.
"I had to change my game plan and box and move a little
bit because this was a very tough fight,” said Reséndiz.
Mazoudier was able to change the tenor of the fight
after proving he could take Reséndiz’s best punches, and
used a lead right uppercut to begin to turn the tide.
The Australian out landed Reséndiz 76 to 47 in power
punches in rounds six through nine to close the gap on
his opponent and leave the fight in doubt heading into
the final frame.
"There were a lot of close rounds,” said Mazoudier. “I
didn't win the rounds clearly enough. He was the better
fighter tonight. I'm very grateful to be in this
position and to have my team here supporting me. I hope
the fans enjoyed it and I hope they have me back. I feel
like I gained some new Mexican fans tonight."
"I knew this was going to be a tough fight,” said
Reséndiz. “He's an Australian warrior. This is the kind
of fight I wanted to give the fans. We clashed in the
middle of the ring like warriors.”
Round 10 saw Reséndiz land a fight high 32 power shots,
including a series of blows in the final moments that
sent Mazoudier backwards and seemingly hurt. Mazoudier
was able to stay on his feet and see the final bell, but
Reséndiz had already done enough to ensure that he’d
continue his climb back toward world title contention.
"My corner was urging me that I had to finish strong and
that's what I did,” said Reséndiz. “We closed out
strong."
Action also saw fast-rising prospect Marco “El Tiburón”
Romero (16-0, 14 KOs) deliver his third-straight first
round knockout as he scored a sensational one-punch KO
of Uruguay’s Matias Ferreira (8-4, 3 KOs) just 1:54 into
their super middleweight clash.
Making a quick return to the ring after a dominant
performance in August, Romero made Ferreira eat his
words after his opponent promised to stop him in four
rounds or less at Thursday’s press conference.
"This played out amazingly,” said Romero. “Karma came
and hit him and I got him out in the first round.”
Romero targeted the body early and often (11 body shots
landed), eventually opening up an angle for him to
deliver a blistering right hand that hurt Ferreira badly
and sent him to the canvas. While Ferreira was able to
get to his feet, he was still wobbly, forcing referee
Tony Weeks to halt the bout.
"He was too slow. His speed and experience didn't
matter,” said Romero. “I'm here. The 160 division is on
notice. There's a new face at middleweight and its 'Tiburón'
Romero.
"I was digging to the body because I knew he would drop
his hands. Once I saw the opening, he got bit by the
shark.”
After the fight, Romero expressed his desire to continue
facing tougher and tougher competition on his way to
middleweight gold.
"I'm ready to step it up in opposition,” said Romero.
“I'm ducking no smoke. I'm here. I feel amazing and I'm
being guided the right way. I'm ready for anybody at
middleweight."
Opening the telecast, undefeated rising middleweight
Jaime Osuna (12-0, 5 KOs) edged the previously unbeaten
Cristian Cangelosi (13-1-1, 5 KOs) via majority decision
after eight rounds of action. Osuna won with two scores
of 77-75 overruling one 76-76 card.
"It was a fight that took everything I had from
beginning to end,” said Osuna. “I knew my opponent would
be good and put me to the test, and I think I was able
to show the fans who I am.”
Osuna struck first in the battle of unbeatens, as he
appeared to stun Cangelosi in round one with a series of
power shots. However it was not long until Osuna was
forced to face his own adversity as he suffered a cut
under his right eyebrow in round two that he dealt with
for the remainder of the bout.
After Cangelosi got himself back in the fight with a
strong round four, Osuna reclaimed control by again
catching his opponent and hurting him in the opening
moments of round five. Cangelosi closed strong, winning
the final two rounds on all three cards, but was in too
much of a hole in the judges’ eyes to overcome the
hard-charging Osuna. Through the eight rounds Osuna
landed 107 power shots to Cangelosi’s 75.
“I hope that this is a stepping stone that allows me to
fight here in Vegas on cards like this many more times,”
said Osuna. “Whoever is next, I’ll be ready.”
|
|
|
