Premier Boxing Champions
With one second left on the clock, WBC Super Welterweight Champion Sebastian Fundora finally found the shot he had been hunting all night. Fighting at The Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on Saturday, “The Towering Inferno” flattened mandatory challenger Ermal Hadribeaj at 2:59 of the 12th and final round. The main event topped the “La Pelea” card, which aired live on TNT and DAZN for Premier Boxing Champions.
“It was an interesting fight,” Fundora said afterward. “I had to go back to fighting on the inside and show everyone once again that I can still do it. Knocking him out in the last second was dramatic. Still, we’ll head back to the gym and fix a few things.”
How Fundora Broke Down Ermal Hadribeaj
Defending his belt for the fourth time, Fundora (25-1-1, 17 KOs) had to deal with a determined challenger early on. Hadribeaj (23-1-1, 8 KOs) came to Las Vegas hoping to become Albania’s first world boxing champion. He actually boxed well in the opening round, moving around his six-foot-six opponent and snapping the jab. That distance didn’t last long, though. Before the first bell sounded, both men were chest-to-chest, trading leather in the pocket.
Smothering Fundora on the inside took away the champion’s reach early on, even if it got messy. Referee Thomas Taylor ended up taking two points from Hadribeaj for holding—one in the third round and another in the eleventh.
By the middle rounds, Fundora’s sheer volume started taking its toll. He dug uppercuts and left hands into the challenger’s midsection, slowly draining the fight out of Hadribeaj. CompuBox credited Fundora with 202 landed punches to Hadribeaj’s 144, including 56 shots to the body.
“I told the referee in the fourth round that I was hurting him,” Fundora said. “I kept landing body shots and looking for that one special punch to end the fight. I was hitting his ribs with my left hand all night. When I connected right down the middle, I heard the noise he made. So I kept targeting that area and knew I would eventually break him.”
One Second Left on the Clock
Fundora’s gas tank never seems to empty. He was still pouring it on in the eleventh, landing 18 power shots in that three-minute stretch alone. Then, just as the final bell was about to sound in the twelfth, he uncorked a heavy left hand that dropped Hadribeaj hard. The referee didn’t even bother with a count, waving the fight off with one tick left on the clock.
Next up for Fundora could be a shot at all the belts at 154 pounds against whoever wins the upcoming unification tilt between Jaron Ennis and Josh Kelly.
“I want to go for the undisputed championship in this division,” Fundora said. “We’re going to dismantle both Jaron Ennis and Josh Kelly, just like this opponent and the one before him. We’ll keep taking them apart.”
Armando Resendiz Outlasts Koen Mazoudier in a Ten-Round War
The co-main event turned into an absolute phone-booth war. Former world titlist Armando “Toro” Reséndiz (17-3, 11 KOs) outworked tough Australian Koen Mazoudier (16-5-1, 6 KOs) over 10 rounds at super middleweight, taking a unanimous decision on scores of 98-92, 97-93, and 97-93. Both guys landed more than 150 power punches before the night was over.
Things caught fire in the second round when both fighters planted their feet in the center of the ring and refused to budge. Reséndiz got the better of the first half, ripping to the body to set up his hooks upstairs and building a 94-58 edge in power shots through five rounds.
“We got this win because of a great camp,” Reséndiz said. “I had to adjust my game plan and box, moving a little more because it was a very tough fight.”
To his credit, Mazoudier walked right through Reséndiz’s heaviest shots and flipped the script in the second half. Timing a sharp right uppercut down the pipe, the Aussie outlanded Reséndiz 76-47 in power punches from the sixth through the ninth rounds, tightening the cards heading into the tenth.
“There were a lot of close rounds, and I didn’t win them clearly enough,” Mazoudier admitted afterward. “Tonight, he was the better fighter. I hope the fans enjoyed the fight and bring me back. I feel like I won over some new Mexican fans tonight.”
With his corner demanding a big finish, Reséndiz emptied the tank in the tenth. He connected on a fight-high 32 power punches in those final three minutes, backing Mazoudier up with a late flurry that visibly shook the Australian just before the bell.
Marco Romero Needs Less Than Two Minutes
Unbeaten prospect Marco “El Tiburón” Romero (16-0, 14 KOs) barely broke a sweat in his super middleweight bout, picking up his third straight first-round stoppage. He flattened Uruguay’s Matías Ferreira (8-4, 3 KOs) with a single right hand at 1:54 of the opening frame.
At Thursday’s press conference, Ferreira had promised to knock Romero out inside four rounds. Romero made sure it didn’t even go two minutes.
“Everything went great,” Romero said. “Karma caught up to him, and I got him out of there in the first round.”
Romero went straight to the body from the opening bell, landing 11 shots downstairs until Ferreira dropped his guard. The moment those hands came down, Romero looped a huge right hand over the top that put Ferreira flat on his back. Ferreira beat the count on wobbly legs, and referee Tony Weeks stepped in to wave it off.
“He was too slow—neither his speed nor his experience mattered,” Romero said. “The 160-pound division is on notice. There’s a new face at middleweight, and it’s ‘El Tiburón’ Romero.”
Jaime Osuna Stays Unbeaten in Broadcast Opener
In the night’s opener, unbeaten middleweight Jaime Osuna (12-0, 5 KOs) handed Cristian Cangelosi (13-1-1, 5 KOs) his first pro loss, taking an eight-round majority decision by scores of 77-75, 77-75, and 76-76.
Osuna jumped on Cangelosi early, buzzing him with a flurry in the first round before suffering a cut under his right eyebrow in the second. Cangelosi worked his way back into the fight in the fourth, only for Osuna to hurt him again early in the fifth. Even though Cangelosi swept the last two rounds on all three cards, Osuna’s 107-75 edge in landed power shots carried the night. The card was promoted by TGB Promotions and Sampson Boxing.
“That fight demanded everything I had from start to finish,” Osuna said. “Whoever comes next will find me ready.”
