Fundora vs. Tszyu Ends in Bloodbath, "Pitbull" Cruz Knocks Out Rolly, Erislandy Lara Proves Cubans Don't Age!

The very first Premier Boxing Champions-Amazon Prime card was something out of a film. Every fight on the main card was a world championship contest, with the defending champions having the pressure of carrying the promotion to new heights.

For Tim Tszyu, his fight against Sebastian Fundora was a war in every sense of the word. Tszyu was perceived as the boogeyman of the 154 lb division. Super-Welterweight didn’t get shaken up again until Tim Tszyu came around to shock Charlo into fighting more advanced competition.

However, with the belts being freed up by his impending absconding from the division, Tim Tszyu was able to land a 2-belt WBO-WBC Super-Welterweight World Championship unification against Sebastian Fundora. The only obstacle to claiming dual championship status? Fundora's 6'6" frame.

Fundora sliced Tszyu's forehead open early in the fight, drawing first blood. The blood trickled down into Tszyu's left eye, effectively blinding him for the rest of the fight. Tszyu kept pawing at his eye to wipe away the blood throughout the fight, but he was unable to clear it due to how quick the blood flow was.

When Tszyu realized he was going to be behind due to the cut, he turned up the heat and busted Fundora's nose in the 5th. In the 6th round, Tszyu cut Fundora's lip open, making him bleed from the mouth. The fight quickly descended into an absolute blood-fest, painting each man's chest, gloves, and tape a deep red.

Fundora jabbed and crossed Tszyu from the outside easily, using the bread-and-butter 1-2 combination instead of engaging his opponent on the inside like he did in most of his other fights. While Fundora's infighting is impressive to see, this time around he declined due to the danger of the leverage a shorter opponent can get on him.

This is what caused Fundora to get knocked out in what many believed was the knockout of the year against Brian Mendoza, who in turn was knocked out by Tim Tszyu. Tszyu was frustrated by Fundora's unwillingness to fight on the inside because his cut progressively got worse with each long-range shot. Fundora was landing an impressive amount of 1-2s, circling around to Tszyu's blind spot to drop uppercuts when he could.

Despite being a one-eyed fighter, Tszyu was able to catch the rhythm of Fundora's jab. In the 7th, 8th, and 9th rounds, Fundora began to absorb more damage from Tszyu because of the counterpunches he received off of the jab. Tszyu took his head off of the center line and blasted Fundora to the body with the left, which granted him small reactions that let him know he was hurting him. When he was close enough to land to the body, he shot the right hand over the top.

As a southpaw, Fundora used his inside foot and power hand advantage with ease. However, once Tszyu landed his right hand to the head after landing a body shot, he began to slow down. Blood caked up on each man's face as they engaged in the center of the ring, exchanging power shots until the final bell sounded.

Fundora and Tszyu hugged each other in the middle of the ring, smiling as blood dripped from their chins. The crowd roared with approval, christening this matchup as a 2024 Fight of The Year contender. Their corners cleaned them up as best as they could and sent them back to the center for the scorecards to be read. Steve Weisfeld scored the bout 112-116, in favor of Fundora. Judge Tim Cheatham scored the bout 116-112 in favor of Tim Tszyu.

Finally, David Sutherland scored the bout 113-115 in favor of the winner, Sebastian “The Towering Inferno” Fundora. Tszyu's team was clearly upset about the decision but took the loss in stride. Tszyu still managed to find a way to force a split decision, winning on one judge's card. Talks of a rematch between the men were sparked immediately by Tszyu's team as well, but the victor, Sebastian Fundora, received no backlash from the crowd.

The two belts were brought into the ring, and Fundora's family joined him in celebration. Fundora made history by becoming the tallest world champion in Super-Welterweight history, and by becoming the first brother-sister duo to hold world championships simultaneously. His sister, Gabriela Fundora, is an IBF World Champion in the flyweight division. None of this would have been possible were it not for the unfortunate circumstances that befell Keith “One Time” Thurman. Thurman, a former WBA and WBC Welterweight World Champion in his own right, was the original opponent for Tim Tszyu.

Thurman tore his bicep during training camp just 12 days ago, and Fundora immediately stepped in to fill his space. Fundora was originally scheduled to fight for an interim world title contest but got elevated due to his eagerness to save the card from failure. As a result, Fundora’s faith in himself and his team paid off. Sebastian Fundora is the new WBO-WBC Super-Welterweight World Champion, adding himself to the lengthy list of Mexican-American world titleists.

[Erislandy Lara Knocks Michael Zerafa Silly!] 

Michael Zerafa was a highly-rated contender before his fight with Erislandy Lara. Zerafa came into the fight as a suitable defense matchup for Lara's WBA Middleweight World Championship. Only two losses blemished the man's record on the night, but after the violent knockout that concluded the match between the Australian and the Cuban, there were three. Lara clipped Zerafa with his signature left hand, making him hit the stanky-leg along the middle of the ring until he fell backward onto his rear. This shot gave Spike O'Sullivan trouble in his challenge against Lara for the title. Lara's knockout performances have given him no favors in the area of activity.

The last time Erislandy Lara was in the ring, I was in the crowd watching. Lara knocked out Spike O'Sullivan on the undercard of Gervonta “Tank” Davis vs. Rolly Romero. The shocking part about Lara's career is its relatively monotonous tone in the current phase. Lara has remained quiet and hasn't made any serious attempts to call out the other champions in his weight class.

When he was elevated to full WBA World status from WBA Regular World status after Gennadiy Golovkin vacated his WBA Super World title, he made no statements to the press. When the tide began to turn in his favor, Lara elected to keep his head down and work hard. He represents the true grit necessary to remain in boxing long-term.

Lara has only lost three times in his career, the latter two being instances in which the combat sports community believes he was robbed. Against Canelo, Lara pushed the pace and forced the young Mexican to fight on his toes. He was disgraced by the judges at the conclusion of their fight, which sent Lara on a hunt throughout the super-welterweight division. Since that loss to Canelo, Lara would only participate in world title matches.

He picked up the IBO Super-Welterweight World Championship through a unanimous decision victory in 2014 against Delvin Rodriguez, defending it 4 times until he lost a split decision to Jarrett “Swift” Hurd in a fight that unified the WBA, IBO, and IBF versions of the 154 lb title. This split decision caused Lara's fighting style, it would be the last time he'd be robbed. After a draw against Brian Castaño Lara moved up to 160 lbs and has been on a knockout streak since. Gone are the days of the Cuban-style point fighting for Lara, he has molded himself into a fierce inside fighter who is not afraid to get his hands dirty.

This has revived his career, giving him the current distinction of the oldest world champion in the sport. Lara is 40 years old, but he looks nothing like it in the ring. Hopefully, Lara can unify and become an undisputed four or five-belt champion at middleweight before he rides off into the sunset.

The WBC has allowed Jermall Charlo to cling to his belt without fear of being stripped or given a mandatory challenger. This means Lara can easily make a few in-house calls at Amazon-PBC for a contract to be drawn up. A fight with Danny Garcia would be great financially, but also a step back for Lara in terms of the division's landscape. 160 lbs is getting crowded fast, waiting around for fights that aren't for world titles would not be a wise decision to make as a champion. 

["Pitbull" Cruz Knocks Out Rolly Romero, Shows Chihuahuas Can Bite Too!]

The buildup of Cruz vs. Romero was exciting. Many people looked forward to seeing what Rolly Romero would do next, his pre-fight antics are always a spectacle. The last time Rolly was in a world title contest against an A-side draw, he relied on verbal insults to get by. This time around, Rolly took it to the next level. In typical Rolly fashion, the Cuban took to social media to call Cruz a “Chihuahua,” disrespecting his ring name, “Pitbull.”

This trend continued for weeks, until two weeks prior to the fight. Rolly appeared in designer drip from head to toe, with an interesting chain around his neck. It was Cruz's face on the body of a chihuahua, adding insult to an already festering injury. Fans around the world found Rolly's antics hilarious, but Cruz did not. The likes of a court jester such as Rolly would not stop his goal of becoming world champion.

Cruz's family had produced two boxers before him, and both failed to capture world titles. For Cruz, this fight against Rolly was a date with destiny. Cruz unleashed all of his anger from the trash talk on Rolly when they met in the ring. In the very first round, Cruz landed a devastating overhand right that would become the textbook punch of the match.

Rolly moonwalked around the ring, visibly rocked by the bomb that detonated on his chin. Cruz's lack of a jab did reappear in this fight, which is a trend most, if not all of his fights follow. In this WBA Super-Lightweight World Championship contest, Cruz didn't need a jab. He was easily able to close the distance against Rolly, applying pressure in the same way he did against Gervonta “Tank” Davis.

The only difference between the two fights was the ability to read the ring. No matter what punch Cruz threw, Rolly could not recognize the fact that Cruz was cutting off the ring as he was punching. Davis did, and as a result, he was able to adapt to Cruz's relentless speed and power punching. Each time Rolly had his back against the ropes, he left his chin exposed.

Cruz blasted Rolly with as much strength as he could, but Rolly refused to go down. He chose to box and fought behind his instincts, which gave him a small degree of success against Cruz. However, Cruz's chin was too sturdy. While many of Rolly's hooks did land, they were not enough to stagger Cruz or force him to stop his attack completely.

This speaks to the caliber of opponent Cruz is, as well as how similar Rolly's responses to pressure were between each fight. He was open to the same counters, used the same strategy, and judging from camp footage, chose a style that relied too heavily upon straight punches to set up combinations.

Rolly heavily underestimated the abilities of Cruz, which created a situation where he had to rely on ingesting information on his opponent as he was fighting. Cruz was able to officially silence Rolly with the worst beating of his career, sending him into a “Happy Easter” speech that has been turned into memes across social media. With tears in his eyes and the Mexican fans of Nevada cheering him on, Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz became the new WBA Super-Lightweight World Champion.

[Zurdo Ramirez Returns, Wins WBA Super Cruiserweight World Championship!]

Golden Boy Promotions fell into the background this past weekend, despite having a world title contest as its main event. Zurdo Ramirez returned to the ring, once again in the cruiserweight division. The move up to cruiserweight has not necessarily helped Zurdo’s speed, similar to his performance against Joe Smith Jr.,  he was sluggish.

For example, Zurdo’s counter left hook to the body and left solar-plexus shot were highly telegraphed, but the champion could not react. His opponent, Arsen Goulamirian, did not fare any better in terms of speed. Despite each man’s shortcomings with punch speed, they did not lack in power, and the fight remained engaging.

The former WBA Super Cruiserweight World Champion was unable to keep Zurdo away from him. Zurdo’s southpaw tactics are always impressive to watch, but this fight was a true display of ring generalship. Zurdo’s jab peppered the defending champion each time he made a serious effort to work inside. Zurdo’s left uppercut also gave Goulamirian significant trouble.

This was a punch that was absent during Zurdo’s non-title match against Joe Smith Jr. Goulamirian had significant problems getting past the uppercut and finding the proper distance to counter. This situation, coupled with the fact that Zurdo’s head movement improved drastically, led to Goulamirian dropping several rounds.

By the 10th round, Zurdo was so confident in his control of the ring and his opponent that he opted to pop shots over the top, trading with the defending champion in the same fashion he did against Smith Jr. Zurdo does not always exhibit the true “Mexican style", but when he does There's much to be desired from Zurdo. His recent performances have shown promise, but in a new division with new players, it will take more than head movement and precision punching to stay above the water.

Jai Opetaia, despite being disrespected by the IBF, is still the most dangerous cruiserweight in the game currently. Many people have Opetaia ranked higher than Zurdo, but Boxrec and other ranking systems have Zurdo listed at #1. Opetaia has appeared on two DAZN cards in Saudi Arabia so far. If Golden Boy can bridge the gap over to the East, then there is definitely grounds for a matchup between the two men.

Should Zurdo defeat Opetaia, he will become the lineal champion within the division, giving him serious credentials that he didn't have prior. Beyond Opetaia lies the WBO Cruiserweight World Champion, Chris Billam-Smith. Billam-Smith's last outing was a title defense against Mateusz Masternak.

Billam-Smith broke Masternak's upper right rib with a left hook to the body. Billam-Smith's soul-crushing body blows have been a part of his offensive game for quite some time, but the Masternak fight made the division take his power shots to the body more seriously.

Billam-Smith is a true threat within the division, but no promoters have called his name to make a big fight happen yet. This has been an issue plaguing the cruiserweight division for many years, but hopefully, now that the title picture is becoming more clear, this can change. Outside of Opetaia and Billam-Smith, title defenses would be reasonable for Zurdo.

A name like Brandon Glanton would be entirely within reason. Glanton is placed perfectly within the top 10, occupying the #9 spot. Glanton also holds the WBO’s International Championship, which grants him contender status regardless of his ranking. Glanton would give Zurdo excellent pace and pressure, creating a salivating cruiserweight world title matchup.  The ball is in Oscar De La Hoya’s court now, only he knows whether or not Zurdo will unify.