Australia’s Tim Tszyu sits among a group of fighters who have this week detailed the incredible challenge that is towering American champ Sebastian Fundora, with one old foe revealing “he came out, threw the jab … and I was like ‘oh s***’.”
Having twice bested Tszyu in world title fights since 2024, 28-year-old Fundora is now readying to make the third defence of his WBC super welterweight crown in this Sunday’s Las Vegas showdown against American great Keith Thurman.
Fundora vs Thurman | Sunday 29 March from 11am AEDT | WBC Super Welterweight World Champion Sebastian Fundora will return to the ring looking to continue his 154-pound reign against the former unified world champion Keith Thurman. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
As part of the fight week build, promoters PBC have asked several fighters to talk through their own experiences with the man dubbed The Towering Inferno.
Apart from standing 197cm tall, Fundora is also an incredibly awkward fighter famed for his high volume of punches per round.
For Tszyu, he recounted a rival who, while hittable, was “a nightmare” to fight and a “tough mother***er.
Elsewhere, the only man to ever beat Fundora as a professional, Brian Mendoza, also talked of his own difficulties faced inside the ring — before then outing what, he insists, can prove the fighter’s “kryptonite” this Sunday.
Elsewhere, famed American trainer Buddy McGirt has also declared Thurman ready to cause a boilover inside the famed MGM Grand – and via KO.
“I think Keith Thurman stops him,” McGirt told Fight Hub TV. “Just [because of] his experience.
“Keith has been there. He’s been in the gutter.
“Fundora really hasn’t.
“And when he has (against Mendoza) … you know what I mean?
“I just think Keith’s got too many guns for him”.
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – JULY 19: Sebastian Fundora (R) punches Tim Tszyu to a seventh round technical knockout during their WBC super welterweight title fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena on July 19, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
For Fundora, this latest world title headliner also doubles as his first appearance since finishing Tszyu inside the same Las Vegas venue last July.
Thurman, meanwhile, is back for the first time since stopping Brock Jarvis last March, which itself followed a hiatus of three years.
Tszyu, who has twice dropped title fights to Fundora, described his old rival as a fighter who, while easy to hit, still poses a myriad of problems inside the ring.
“He’s a bit of a nightmare,” Tszyu started when quizzed on the Fundora challenge. “But he’s also easy to hit.
“But then he’s also a real tough motherfucker … gets hit and keeps coming, [so] it’s hard to box him, it’s hard to be strategic.
“Sometimes I was throwing haymakers, throwing punches without even looking, and I was swinging at air.
“That’s what he’s good at; because of his reach and his awkwardness, and the fact that he can take a little step back and he’s completely out of the way — when you fight Fundora, expect that you’re going to be in one of your hardest fights.”
Fundora vs Thurman | Sunday 29 March from 11am AEDT | WBC Super Welterweight World Champion Sebastian Fundora will return to the ring looking to continue his 154-pound reign against the former unified world champion Keith Thurman. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
Mendoza, meanwhile, handed Fundora what remains his sole career loss in 2023, landing a surprise knockout in the seventh – and while well behind on the scorecards.
“Fighting Fundora is kinda interesting,” Mendoza said.
“It’s tough to get ready for a guy at that height in this weight class.
“He has a lot of advantages against you in the ring.
“The main thing a lot of people didn’t recognize in my fight with him was lateral movement.
“They noticed him getting downhill on me and kinda landing shots, but they didn’t notice how many shots I was able to get out of the way of.
“The lateral movement was a big factor for me.
“And a couple other things I’ll keep in the vault, because I’m still trying to get the rematch with him.”
So as for how Sunday’s fight goes?
“I honestly think Thurman’s a big threat,” Mendoza continued. “Because he’s known for really good lateral movement.
“He knows how to get you to cross your feet up and come in with that leaping hook, which we saw in my fight with (Fundora). That can be his kryptonite.”
Keith Thurman will take on ‘The Towering Inferno’ this weekendSource: Getty Images
Elsewhere, American Chordale Booker, who lost his own title fight to The Towering Inferno in 2023, also recounted his difficulties against the rangy champion.
“It’s already hard to fight someone who’s 6’6”,” he said.
“I’ve never been in the ring with anybody that tall. Somebody with that much length.
“He came out, threw the jab, and I remember the first thing I did was pull back — and he still hit me.
“I was, like, ‘oh s***t’.
“Watching all his old tapes, I trained for a guy who was tall but gave up his height. He had just had that fight with Tim Tszyu, and he clearly worked on his range, which made it a difficult fight for me.”
McGirt, meanwhile, is convinced Thurman will get it done.
When asked if he feels the great’s lack of activity in recent years could play against him, the trainer replied: “I mean, it could. But I think Keith is the type of guy that, he wants it bad enough, he’ll figure out a way to win.”