Sebastian Fundora defeats Tim Tszyu via split decision: 'Towering Inferno' wins WBO/WBC titles in bloody showdown

03-31-2024
16 min read
Esther Lin/PBC

Sebastian Fundora has defeated Tim Tszyu via split decision following a bloody and bruising clash in Las Vegas and Saturday.

Tszyu had come out aggressively but an accidental elbow caused a gaping cut on his head at the end of the second round.

On debut in Las Vegas, the Australian's team struggled to contain the gash and Fundora, despite already having a suspected broken nose, gained confidence.

After years of fans calling for the 6’6” southpaw to use his length, Fundora finally listened, controlling the majority of the middle rounds with his jab as Tszyu struggled to find a way inside and land the big shot he was chasing.

In the end, Fundora did just enough, taking out the points on two judges’ cards (116-112, 115-113, 112-116), seeing the WBO and WBC super welterweight titles head to Coachella, California.

After the fight, former unified welterweight champion Errol Spence made his way into the ring to call out the new champion, while Tszyu required 10 stitches in his head.

In the co-main event, Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz embodied his nickname with a savaging of Rolando Romero to relieve him of his WBA super lightweight title.

In front of an extremely pro-Pitbull crowd, the Mexican came at Romero like a wild animal from the opening bell, landing wild hooks to put the champion on unsteady legs.

Romero was able to survive that onslaught and did grow slightly more comfortable as the rounds passed but the relentless pressure of Cruz eventually proved too much.

A big left hook in the eighth round was the beginning of the end, as Cruz swarmed and landed several more clean shots to see Tom Taylor call it off and lift the roof off the T-Mobile Arena.

Earlier, Erislandy Lara knocked Michael Zerafa out in the second round to retain his WBA middleweight title while Julio Cesar Martinez edged Angelino Cordova in a violent war for the WBC flyweight strap.

MORE: Oscar Valdez stops Liam Wilson in the seventh, Estrada becomes undisputed with win over Valle

Here’s how it all went down:

Tim Tszyu vs. Sebastian Fundora live results, updates

Sebastian Fundora edges Tim Tszyu via split decision

Round 12: Strong finish for Tszyu who continues to chase the knockout. Fundora isn't going anywhere though as he makes the final bell. Fundora's chin passes its first test after the Mendoza KO. "The Towering Inferno" takes it on our card but realistically there were probably four or five that could go either way. 116-114 Fundora

Round 11: Another tough round to score but Fundora probably edges it again with activity. His jab has been in Tszyu's face all night and the Aussie can't figure out a way around it consistently enough. 107-104 Fundora

Round 10: Nice round for Tszyu. Fundora eats two hard rights upstairs and one in the body. Every time Tszyu lands, Fundora gets straight back on the jab. This could be a tough one to score depending on how the judges value activity versus damage. 97-95 Fundora

Round 9: Fundora gets back on the jab and pinches the round. Fundora is taking Tszyu's shots well and there's plenty fight still left in both. 87-84 Fundora

Round 8: Decent comeback round for Tszyu who has seemed to remembered the 6'6" Fundora has a body as well. Tszyu closes the distance better that round. 77-75 Fundora 

Round 7: Tszyu has to do something to change the course of this fight. Fundora's length is proving the difference. After years of being told to use his jab, Fundora is finally listening. 68-65 Fundora

Round 6: Fundora keeps the momentum going. Tszyu just misses with some big shots as Fundora keeps scoring with the lead hand. 58-56 Fundora 

Round 5: A close round but we give it to the challenger on activity. Fundora is keeping busy with jabs and straights while Tszyu is looking for the big hooks and overhand rights. The blood is pouring freely from Fundora's nose and Tszyu's head. 48-47 Fundora

Round 4: It's a straight-up firefight now. It could be stopped at any moment with the cut and the fighters seem to know it. Fundora having more success now. All square through four. 38-38

Round 3: This fight has completely changed complexion with the cut to Tszyu's head. The Aussie is chasing a knockout but walks into some big uppercuts. An elbow caused the cut at the end of the second. Tszyu is struggling to see. Fundora on the front foot. 29-28 Tszyu

Round 2: Huge round for Tszyu! But he comes away with a bad cut on his hairline. The Aussie lands about six powerful right hands to bloody Fundora's nose. The cut is pouring blood as Tszyu goes to the corner. The fight restarts. 20-18 Tszyu

Round 1: Fundora begins pawing with the jab in a cagey opening round. Tszyu lands the two most meaningful punches of the round to steal it in the final minute. 10-9 Tszyu

7:48pm PT: Both fighters are in the ring for the main event. It's time.

7:30pm PT: Main event up next but the undercard has been a showstopper so far. 

Official crowd at T-Mobile Arena is 14,726.

Isaac Cruz stops Rolly Romero in the eighth

That's it! More of the same from Pitbull in that round as Romero's resistance finally runs out. A left hand starts it before Cruz lands about four or five more clean shots to close the show. What a victory in front of an extremely partisan crowd in favour of the Mexican. Cruz takes the WBA super lightweight strap back to Mexico City.

Round 7: Huge round for Pitbull! For the second time in the fight, the end looked near for Rolly. Cruz landed multiple big shots, including a right hand as Romero bounced off the ropes but the champion somehow stays on his feet.

69-62 Cruz

Round 6: Another solid round from Rolly as Pitbull slows down ever so slightly. Romero bounces a few 1-2s off the Mexican but the pressure continues. Pitbull finishes strongly to just edge the round in our books.

59-54 Cruz

Scroll to Continue with Content

Round 5: Rolly's best round of the fight up until he got a point taken away. It seemed harsh but Tom Taylor has clearly had enough of the holding from Romero's end. Pitbull finishes strongly after the restart.

49-45 Cruz

Round 4: Another dominant round for the challenger as Romero struggles to deal with the pressure and power. Pitbull is able to tee off with hooks when he gets Rolly against the ropes and, more often than, not scores with hard shots. The punches Rolly lands don't seem to make a dent in Pitbull.

40-36 Cruz

Round 3: A similar story in the third with Romero back peddling as Cruz hunts him around the ring. Rolly again finds the target with some counters but Cruz's shots just seem to be doing more damage.

30-27 Cruz

Round 2: A more measured Cruz in the second but he's still leading the dance and putting Romero on the back foot. Rolly looking to time him with counters on the way in and actually lands a couple but Cruz shakes them off. Cruz continues to press forward looking for that one punch to end it.

20-18 Cruz

Round 1: The bell rings and Pitbull charges at Rolly with bad intentions. Cruz swings wild hooks with both hands but Romero manages to make him miss for the first couple of minutes. Pitbull then finds the target with some hard shots to get Romero on wobbly legs. Rolly somehow stays on his feet as Cruz looks for the finishing shot but can't find it.

10-9 Cruz

Erislandy Lara knocks Michael Zerafa out in the second round

Erislandy has retained his WBA middleweight title with a second-round knockout of Australia's Michael Zerafa.

In the dying stages of the round which hadn't seen much action, the southpaw bounced a 1-2 off Zerafa and down he went.

Zerafa struggled to his feet but was clearly unsteady and referee Allen Huggins waved it off.

Prior to the shot, the crowd, wound up by the action of the previous bout, had been booing at the lack of action from the pair.

Julio Cesar Martinez retains title in war with Angelino Cordova

113-113, 114-112 x2

Julio Cesar Martinez has retained his WBC flyweight world championship after a violent, action-packed brawl with Angelino Cordova.

Fought at a frantic pace from the opening bell, Cordova touched the canvas twice in the third round and the bout looked certain to end inside the distance but the Venezuelan fought back strongly.

Both men had highlights through the middle rounds as Martinez's face began to show damage, before a head clash made it all the more worse after a cut opened up on his left eyebrow in the 10th.

The pace was unrelenting through the final bell, although Cordova may regret his tactics late on, appearing to avoid exchanging, believing he'd done enough.

Cordova's reaction after the bell and as the cards were read out confirmed as much, but Martinez goes back to Mexico City a deserved winner, via majority decision.

Serhii Bohachuk outclasses Brian Mendoza on way to points victory

118-110, 117-111 x2

Ukraine's Serhii Bohachuk has continued his rise up the rankings with unanimous decision victory over a gritty Brian Mendoza.

The fight followed a similar pattern to Mendoza's bout with Tszyu last year, although Bohachuk arguably established his dominance earlier than the Aussie.

Mendoza, despite carrying what appeared to be facial fracture into the later rounds, remained dangerous and had a bright moment in the 11th but Bohachuk was able to take his best shots and return the favour back the other way.

In the end, it was a question of whether Bohachuk could drop or stop Mendoza, but "La Bala" was able to tough it out to the final bell.

Curmel Moton records UD victory over Anthony Cuba

80-72 x3

The 17-year-old protege of Floyd Mayweather maintained the perfect start to his professional career with an exciting points victory over the ultra-game Cuba.

Moton's speed and class advantage was clear from the opening bell but no matter what the teenager threw at his opponent, Cuba kept on coming.

While he went to the judges for the first time, Moton looked every bit the superstar of the future he's been billed as, giving Cuba his first loss in his 10th professional outing.

What time is Tim Tszyu vs. Sebastian Fundora today?

The main card starts at 8 p.m. ET, and Tszyu and Fundora should make their way to the ring around 11:30 p.m. ET, depending on what time the undercard fights last.  

Here's how that translates globally.

Region Date Main Card Start Time Main Event Ring Walks (approx.)
USA and Canada (ET) Saturday, March 30 8 p.m. ET 11:30 p.m. ET
USA and Canada (PT) Saturday, March 30 5 p.m. PT 8:30 p.m. PT
UK and Ireland Sunday, March 31 12 a.m. GMT 4:30 a.m. GMT
Australia Sunday, March 31 11 a.m. AEDT 2:30 p.m. AEDT

SHOP: Everlast, choice of champions, check the full boxing range here

How to watch Tim Tszyu vs. Sebastian Fundora

Region TV channel Live streaming
USA PRIME VIDEO, PPV.com
Canada TBA
UK and Ireland TrillerTV
Australia Fox Sports/Main Event Kayo

In Australia, the fight is available via Main Event and Kayo Sports.

In the U.S., Tim Tszyu vs. Sebastian Fundora will be on Amazon Prime Video PPV

Tim Tszyu vs. Sebastian Fundora fight card

  • Tim Tszyu (c) vs. Sebastian Fundora for the WBC and WBO super welterweight title
  • Rolando Romero (c) vs. Isaac Cruz for the WBA super lightweight title
  • Erislandy Lara (c) vs. Michael Zerafa for the WBA middleweight title
  • Julio Cesar Martinez (c) vs. Angelino Cordova for the WBC flyweight title
  • Serhii Bohachuk vs. Brian Mendoza for the interim WBC super welterweight title
  • Curmel Moton vs. Anthony Cuba; super featherweight