Sebastian Fundora Vs Tim Tzyu

By James Blears

Two for one and hell for leather, as on just twelve days of notice, Sebastian “Towering Inferno” Fundora 20-1-1, 13 KO’s will be looming over Tim “Soul Taker” Tszyu 24-0, 17 KO’s for the vacant WBC super welterweight Green and Gold Belt at the T Mobile Arena, Las Vegas on March 30^th.

An adept and necessary shuffle in Vegas, due to a shifting deck for this Card, which could have been trumped, due to a bicep injury suffered in training by Keith Thurman, who was going to fight Tim in a non -title bout at 155 catch-weight.

But slim Jim Sebastian who was to fight Serhii Bohachuk 23-1, 23 KO’s for the vacant WBC belt, will now present a tall order for Tim…and just in time. A very different stylistic scenario for Tim, who was training to fight right-handed boxer/mover Keith. Now Tim who stands five feet eight and a half inches tall with a seventy and a half inch reach, will be up against an unrelenting six feet five and a half inch tall pressure fighter, who seldom takes a step backwards and in spite of an eighty inches reach, likes nothing better than to get stuck in real close, winging in uppercuts from a southpaw stance. Where is Tim going to find such tall and rangy sparring partners, as such SHORT notice?

Fate has presented this golden opportunity to Sebastian and he’s seized it with both hands.  If he wins, he’ll be a unified super welterweight champion. Meanwhile, Serhii Bohachuk, who was to have fought Sebastian, now fights Brian Mendoza 22-3, 16 KO’s for the WBC Interim Title on the same bill. Brian almost poleaxed Seb last year, with a three punch combo in round seven. Seb was handily winning hands down on all the scorecards and that was the trouble! He readily concedes a a momentary lapse of concentration while his hands were indeed out of position and out of sync. So, he paid the painful price, by being decked and unable to beat the count.

Brian “The Bullet” then went to Australia to fight Tim, losing most of the rounds and a UD. Sebastian hasn’t fought since the Mendoza defeat. How will be recoup and regroup in his first fight back, after the bitter taste of his first defeat? There can hardly be a sterner test for him than this, as he jumps right back into the fray.

Last minute changes to opponents and the task of adjusting to a radically different style, can prove problematic and it’s produced some notable upsets or near upsets over the years. One particular instance which comes to mind is Vitali Klitschko against Lennox Lewis, who struggled with a considerably taller than scheduled opponent. Dr Steel Hammer landed some eye watering punches on Lennox , until in round three “The Lion” produced a corkscrew right which raked him and it did terrible damage to Vitali’s left eyelid. On the advice of the Ring Doctor the fight was stopped before round seven. A stitch in time!

This here and now supreme challenge for two belts is a real test under fire for Sebastian. He debuted in 2016, defeating Jose Cardenas in round one. He then went 12-0 over the next three years.

His first big test was against Jemontay Clark for the vacant WBC Youth Super-welter title, which ended as a draw. He won his next fight by UD against Sergio Garcia which was a title eliminator.

Then the molten ashen faced furnace fight against Erikson Lublin for the WBC Interim Title. Erikson dropped him hard in round seven. He got up to apply severe pressure and Lubin, whose face bore witness to the heavy bombardment stayed on his corner stool after a torrid ninth. In his first defense, Sebastian defeated Carlos Ocampo by UD. But then…the huge hiccup via the upending “Bulldozer” Mendoza fight.

With that enormous reach advantage over any given opponent, it remains a mystery why Seb likes to negate it by getting in so close. Yet those pipestem arms are capable of inflicting considerable damage to opponents. Those wafer thin reed like legs have mostly held him up well so far, but coming in so near against Tim, will test them as they’ve never been tested before. Holy Moses!

“What’s my name”? he’s often asked his adoring fans? Well…Tim has certainly lived up to the family nom de guerre. Dad Kostya was undisputed super lightweight champion and inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2011.

Tim was a gymnast and a soccer player before switching to boxing at the relatively late age of fifteen. He swiftly made up for lost time and debuted also in 2016. He won the WBC-ABCO Continental Title against Wade Ryan by UD.

In a quantum leap he overwhelmed former WBC Champion Jeff Horn, with the latter’s corner stopping it for an eighth round TKO.

Then on to former Absolute Champion Tony Harrison who he defeated via ninth round TKO to win the WBO interim title. In his first defense, he blitzed Carlos Ocampo in seventy seven seconds of round one. Sebastian had defeated Carlos via decision. A convincing win over Brian Mendoza and Tim was elevated to full Champ after Jermell Charlo ventured two divisions higher to unsuccessfully challenge Saul “Canelo” Alvarez for super middleweight supremacy.

Tim has never, ever encountered a fighter quite like Sebastian Fundora. Who has? The height and reach difference pose potential significant issues and problems, which he’ll have to overcome and resolve.

Sebastian will be stepping up in class against Tim who aged three years older at twenty nine is at his peak. Tim likes to back opponents against the ropes and blast away, trying to achieve a quick shock victory. He’s got an elongated if not big target in Sebastian, who really should try to use his considerable reach advantage to negate this. A change is as good as a rest? Sebastian could make this a strategic battle, but more likely than not, he’ll opt for a war of attrition.

It would have been better for Sebastian to have had a couple of fights leading up to this to fully erase and eradicate the Mendoza shocker from his system. But the door was ajar and opportunity knocked.

Time/ Tim waits for no man!

As the poet Robert Browning wrote: “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp.” Definitely the case with Sebastian. Will he be able to stave off rather than hold off the onslaught of Tim?

Only time will tell.