“I fight whoever is easier to get along with”
The son of the legendary Kostya Tszyu Tim was supposed to fight American Keith Thurman and could lose his WBO belt if he was defeated. However, the Australian player’s opponent was injured and replaced: another US representative, Sebastian Fundora, soon entered the fight. Another belt was at stake – the vacant title of the World Boxing Council (WBC), Fundora, in this version a former interim world champion. Before his fight with Tim, Sebastian had 22 fights, one draw and 20 wins, 13 of which were by knockout. His only defeat in the professional ring was against compatriot Brian Mendoza in April 2023.
Before the fight, Tszyu talked about his future plans, in particular, he announced his intention to fight Errol Spence or the current leader of the pound-for-pound rating (rating of the best boxers regardless of weight categories. – socialbites.ca) Terence Crawford. Spence promised to be at the T-Mobile Arena on March 31 to see his future opponent, who, in his opinion, will be the winner of the fight between Tszyu and Fundora. Tim was happy to hear Errol’s words.
“Great, he finally woke up. I thought he had been asleep for a long time. I will fight with everyone with whom it will be easier to reach an agreement. If they offer me to fight Spence, I will accept. The same goes for the fight with Crawford,” Tszyu quotes. “Championship” He quotes columnist Michael Benson.
“I was shocked that a professional would eat so much nonsense.”
At a press conference ahead of the fight with Fundora, Tim admitted that he was shocked by his opponent’s lifestyle. He couldn’t believe the American had eaten a hamburger before the fight.
“I live and breathe boxing. I remember my interview with Cristiano Ronaldo and I lead the same lifestyle as him, I’m just as disciplined as him. Yesterday I saw Fundora eating a burger and I was shocked. “I’m really surprised that a professional athlete would eat so much crap two days before a fight, it’s confusing,” Tszyu said.
Fast food addiction hardly affects the shape of the American: slim and tall – 198 cm – Fundora, from an anthropometric point of view, is significantly different from Thurman, whose height is 171 cm, with whom Tszyu was initially preparing for a fight. . However, it seems that this difference did not play a big role for Tim: he started the fight confidently and dominated the first round.
However, in the second part, an incident occurred that apparently affected the entire course of the fight: Tszyu ducked under his opponent’s arm and hit Fundora’s elbow, receiving a deep cut. After that, he began to act extremely carefully, but he missed many blows from the left and did not have time to react due to bleeding. During the pauses he tried to treat the incisor wound, but it opened again and again.
With a slight advantage in the end, but the judges gave the victory to Fundora: 112-116, 116-112, 115-113. This means Tim not only suffers the first defeat of his professional career but also loses his WBO belt.
After the result was announced, Terence Crawford stated that the Australian still had a lot of work to do.
“You lost sir, you need to work to come back,” the boxer wrote on the social network “X”.
“The vision is almost finished”
After the failure, Tszyu did not show any strong emotions. He stated that he fought a good fight despite the defeat and that he was ready to take revenge.
“I give credit to the winning opponent. Listen, this is boxing, it is a sport, this can happen. He is the new king of the division now. But I will come back. Still, I fought hard and gave everything. I will not make excuses. I am ready to fight any opponent at any time. To fight Fundora again I’m ready,” Tszyu said.
He also admitted that cuts and bleeding hindered him in many ways. According to Tim, it was extremely dangerous to fight with such an opponent.
“My eyesight was almost lost, I literally couldn’t see anything and had to rub my eyes constantly.
Physically, I felt fine, but still… You’re fighting with blurred vision, which is not an ideal situation, especially with an opponent like Fundora,” Tszyu quotes. Fighting Field.
Former World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev said he was disappointed with the result. He undoubtedly pointed out the reason that, in his opinion, led to Tim’s failure.
“What a shame. In fact, in my opinion, a lot is hidden in the dissection. I wish Tim to regain his strength and prove that he is the best,” Valuev wrote. Telegram.
“This is a test for Tim”
In a comment to socialbites.ca, former World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior heavyweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov called on Tim to draw the right conclusions and come back even stronger.
“This is just a defeat, not fatal. Only if Tim comes to the right conclusions will he realize what he did wrong. First of all, it all depends on Tim and what kind of analysis he does of the fight.
For me, defeats have always been a test of character. Winning is always easy and being a champion is nice. And defeats test whether you are a true champion.
Only true champions rise from failure. This is a test for Tim, let’s see how it goes.
And there is nothing terrible in defeat. I only wish Tim good health and hope he comes back better and stronger. Therefore, defeats are also a part of life,” said Provodnikov.