Premier Boxing Champions Presents Fundora vs. Thurman MGM Grand Card Preview
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
Las Vegas, NV (March 26th, 2026)– Premier Boxing Champions will present an exciting 10-bout card of professional boxing on Saturday night, March 28, 2026, featuring World Boxing Council Super Welterweight champion Sebastian Fundora defending his title against former World Welterweight champion Keith Thurman in the scheduled 12-round main event.
I am predicting Thurman, 31-1 with 23 knockouts, age 37 from St. Petersburg, Florida, to win by stoppage in an upset. Though plagued by ring inactivity, Thurman has remained active in the gym. He apparently lost none of his sharpness in a third-round knockout of Brock Jarvis at Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, Australia, in March 2025. First, Thurman dropped Jarvis with power uppercuts and overhand head shots. Then, after Jarvis beat the count at nine, Thurman came forward and finished Jarvis with a left hook in a corner, sending Jarvis down and out for good. At 5’9″ with a 69 ½ inches reach, Thurman’s major asset is his hard work ethic, ring generalship, and ring I.Q.
Moneyline odds favor Sebastian Fundora at -370, with Keith Thurman as a +270 underdog. Method of Victory favors Fundora by KO/TKO at -130, and to win by decision at +250. Thurman’s odds of a win by decision are at +550, or win by KO +650. The predicted total rounds over/under is set at 9.5 rounds or 10.5 rounds.
Fundora, a 23-2-1 southpaw with 15 knockouts, Coachella, California, ‘The Towering Inferno’, is 6’5 ½” in height with 80 inches of reach. While Fundora has height and reach advantage to an extreme, his Thomas Hearns-type build lacks the musculature of a short action-packed fighter in the lower weights. Brian Mendoza, built like a super welterweight Rocky Marciano of sorts, used crisp, powerful left and right hooks to knock out the giant and expose him.
Noted trainer Bozy Ennis calls Fundora versus Thurman a 50-50 chance bout for both combatants, rating the chances of both fighters at even. However, Bozy Ennis noted Fundora’s fundamental flaw as the taller type of boxer. “Every time Fundora fights, he drops his hands. That’s when you slide in, drop down, and come up with the right-boom! (Come in then with the) Right hand, and left hook behind (it). Sometimes I would switch up (as a boxer). You gotta frustrate him (the taller boxer).”
Thurman will go inside and follow the same template in his game plan. Thurman is going to have to tie up the Fundora giant a great deal and put some serious hurt on him in the later rounds. Despite his size, Fundora has been plagued by a weak chin. Tall fighters from Primo Carnera to Nicolai Valuev to Anthony Joshua have been beaten by smaller, defensive yet stronger power hitters like Rocky Marciano. Fundora throws many punches by volume inside at close range, but Thurman moves better and must use superior maneuverability to neutralize Fundora and thoroughly frustrate him throughout the contest to win.
Thurman must counter-punch and catch Fundora coming in as Mendoza did. Thurman’s hand speed will do damage earlier at a faster pace than Mendoza’s. While some experts cite Thurman’s age, Thurman has not suffered the damage of other fighters by remaining in the gym at the top of his game but taking fights more rarely. There is nothing to suggest, as experts have implied, that Thurman has lost anything with time, as evidenced by the Brock Jarvis bout. Fundora throws punches in high volume, but his build is not made to withstand heavy hitters. The Marvelous Marvin Hagler versus Thomas Hearns experiment was rock’em sock’em, but did not last long. Fundora’s youth, speed, and activity can be picked apart by heavier hitters.
In the pre-fight interview with Andre Ward and Roy Jones Jr., both Fundora and Thurman touched upon the challenges of having two training camps, as Fundora’s hand injury caused this title bout to be postponed and rescheduled. The greater issue is Thurman’s analysis of Fundora’s defense. According to Thurman, other fighters are reaching Fundora inside and hitting him hard. “Defense nullifies offense. I am not a volume puncher. I am a precise puncher. When a big punch lands, no matter how much confidence he is reestablishing after his first career loss, and he’s climbing that ladder high, and he’s feeling good, when he gets hit, every cell in his body is going to awaken, and something deep in that subconscious mind is gonna come to the forefront of his mind, and it’s not a choice.”
Thurman describes this match as an old-school Queensberry match and has been training with a small, higher-hung punching bag to compensate for Fundora’s higher chin and make punch angle adjustments. A key understanding is that Thurman is a higher I.Q. thinking fighter, who can make adjustments based on his opponent’s weaknesses. Fundora was knocked out by Mendoza. Jarvis was knocked out by Liam Paro. Thurman’s boxing skills are solid, and he can study his opponents and exploit key weaknesses to break them down faster.
Thurman is no stranger to the 154-pound division, having beaten former WBO World Welterweight champion Carlos Quintana for the WBO NABO Super Welterweight title in November 2012. The Brock Jarvis bout was at super welterweight. Thurman will have his work cut out for him to score this win. The odds are expected to narrow as the fight night approaches.
The action begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and will feature exciting super welterweights going toe-to-toe in the 12-round co-main event as rising young star Yoenis Tellez duels top contender Brian Mendoza.
The lineup will also feature undefeated top-rated middleweight Yoenli Hernandez stepping in against battle-tested U.S. Olympian Terrell Gausha in a 10-round bout, plus undefeated heavyweight slugger Gurgen Hovhannisyan steps in to face Cesar Navarro in a 10-round showdown opening the pay-per-view at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
Exciting young star Elijah Garcia and super middleweight contender Kevin Newman II will meet in the main event of FIRST ON PRIME action streaming live and for free on Prime Video prior to the pay-per-view beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT.
GLOVES OFF: Fundora vs Thurman | Full Episode – Click Here
Ring Champs Preview: Special Edition – All The Smoke
HALL OF GAME:
Hall of Famers Andre Ward and Roy Jones Jr. welcome in Keith Thurman and Sebastian Fundora to All the Smoke’s Hall of Game for an in-depth discussion ahead of their intriguing matchup.
Hall of Game – All The Smoke goes in-depth with Fundora & Thurman
Virtual Press Conference
Sebastian Fundora & Keith Thurman March 11, 2026
Click HERE for Video Recording
(Credit: Premier Boxing Champions)
Robert Brizel (2025-2026) Prediction Record: (69-19-8)
Featured Boxing Main Event Record (2-2)
Robert Brizel PBC MGM Grand Undercard Predictions
Yoenis Tellez Win in 10 rounds over Brian Mendoza, Super Welterweights
Y Hernandez Win in 10 Rounds over Terrell Gaucha, Middleweights
Elijah Garcia Win in 10 Rounds over Kevin Newman II, Super Middleweights
Kaipo Gallegos Win in 10 Rounds over Julian Gonzalez, Lightweights
Cristian Cangelosi Win in 10 Rounds over Miguel Angel Hernandez, Super Welterweights
Gurgen Hovhannisyan Win by Knockout over Cesar Navarro, Heavyweights
Brayan Gonzalez Win in 6 Rounds over Brandon Guerrero, Featherweights
Roberto Guerrero Win by Stoppage over Rigoberto Rivera, Super Lightweights
Aldo Blancas (Peo Debut) Win in 4 Rounds over Jamal Johnson, Super Lightweights
WHAT’S IT LIKE TO FIGHT SEBASTIAN FUNDORA?
FORMER OPPONENTS SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCES AGAINST 6’5” WORLD CHAMPION & EXPLAIN WHY
KEITH THURMAN COULD HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO WIN
“He’s a bit of a nightmare…I felt like I was shadowboxing
with myself sometimes.” – Tim Tszyu
“He’s just something you don’t see at this weight class…He makes every fighter have to engage with him.” – Erickson Lubin
“Thurman is a big threat because he knows how to get you to cross your feet up and get you to come in with that leaping hook. You saw in my fight with Fundora that it can be his kryptonite.” – Brian Mendoza
WBC Super Welterweight World Champion Fundora Takes on Former Unified World Champion Thurman Headlining PBC Pay-Per-View Event Available on Prime Video this Saturday, March 28, from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas
Click HERE for Fighter Analysis Video Via the
Premier Boxing Champions YouTube Channel
LAS VEGAS – March 23, 2026 – One of the most unique world champions to rise to the top of the sport in recent memory, WBC Super Welterweight World Champion Sebastian “The Towering Inferno” Fundora has vexed nearly all of his opponents with outlandish height and reach, combined with the come forward style of a differently proportioned fighter, and will look to continue his recent run of dominance this Saturday when he takes on his most experienced opponent to date in former unified champion Keith “One Time” Thurman headlining a PBC Pay-Per-View event available on Prime Video from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Ahead of this pivotal March 28 showdown, Fundora’s opponents shared their firsthand experience stepping into the ring with the preposterously six-foot-five 154-pound world champion, including his most recent foe, former champion Tim Tszyu, who faced Fundora in a pair of memorable clashes.
“Fundora’s biggest advantage is the number of punches he throws in a round,” said Tszyu. “It’s the fact that he doesn’t let anyone rest. Because he’s so tall, he’s able to just punch and punch without using too much energy. That’s his biggest strength.
“He’s a bit of a nightmare, but he’s also easy to hit. But he’s also tough as hell, he gets hit and keeps coming. It’s hard to be strategic. When you fight Fundora, expect that you’re gonna be in one of the hardest fights.”
In between fights against Tszyu, Fundora defended his championships against WBO top contender Chordale Booker, who had a moment early in the first round of their fight that made him realize he was in for an even more challenging task than he expected.
“It’s already hard to fight somebody as tall as Sebastian, but it’s that length that he has,” said Booker. “He came out and threw the jab, and I remember the first thing I did was pull, and he still hit me. I trained for a guy who was tall and gave up his height, but when he came to fight me he had just had the first fight with Tszyu, and he clearly had worked on his range. That made it a difficult fight for me.”
Tszyu also emphasized the same point about Fundora’s length and the difficulties that it creates, especially related to how much energy Fundora’s opponents have to exert compared to him.
“I was just throwing haymakers without even looking, and every time that happened, I was swinging at air,” said Tszyu. “Because of his reach and his awkwardness and that he can take a step back and be completely out of the way, he’s got big strengths. The most challenging part was that there was no wasted energy from him. The amount of work that I had to do in a round, compared to him, my energy was much more wasted.”
Two opponents who gave Fundora some trouble in their fights also analyzed the challenges they faced in their respective matchups. Contender Jamontay Clark fought Fundora to a draw in 2019, while top contender Erickson Lubin was able to drop Fundora before ultimately losing one of 2022’s best fights.
“It was an intense fight,” said Clark. “Every time a new round would start, he would smile over at me and I was like ‘okay here we go again.’ I knew I had to be on top of my game. When we fought, Fundora was really all pressure. But watching his last couple fights, it looks like he’s started to sit back on his back foot more and try to pop the jab. I feel like he doesn’t bring his jab hand back all the way fast enough, but he’s so tall that he can usually get away with it.”
“Fighting Sebastian Fundora is a challenge for sure,” said Lubin. “He’s just something you don’t see at this weight class. He’s a great fighter who brings the fight. He makes every fighter have to engage with him. He takes up a lot of space in the ring and it was a different kind of challenge for me.”
The fighter with the best blueprint on facing Fundora is certainly top contender Brian Mendoza, who stopped Fundora with a sensational knockout in one of 2023’s biggest upsets, before Fundora earned his first world championship. For Mendoza, one of the keys to beating Fundora is based in a skillset that he believes Fundora will be forced to overcome against the talented former champion Thurman.
“Fighting Fundora is definitely something that you can’t truly prepare for,” said Mendoza. “You need tons of lateral movement, which I think Thurman has, and you need to be able to cross up his angles.
“I don’t think people really noticed my lateral movement in our fight. They saw him getting downhill and landing on me, but they didn’t notice how many shots I got out of the way of. I think Thurman is a big threat because he knows how to get you to cross your feet up and get you to come in with that leaping hook. You saw in my fight with Fundora that it can be his kryptonite.”
Moments after coming up short in their second fight, Tszyu said in his post-fight interview that he “felt like I was shadowboxing with myself sometimes,” in trying to turn the tide against Fundora. When asked how he feels about going up against an opponent who elicits that kind of reaction after a fight, Thurman detailed why he’ll be able to end March 28 with a different outcome.
“It’s all about the reach factor that Tszyu was referencing,” said Thurman. “He felt like he was shadowboxing himself because he kept falling short and missing by inches. He was able to land some punches as well, but he’s more flat-footed and not as mobile as I am.
“I understand where he’s coming from. Fundora is like a walking obstacle course for anyone in the division. He’s a freak of nature, and it’s gonna be challenging. He’s let people on the inside in the past, and I’m not sure he can just pepper me with that jab all night like against Tszyu, because I’m not gonna be standing straight up. I have good head movement and bobbing and weaving tactics. We believe that we’ll be able to get inside, be explosive, and make up for that gap and eventually get our hands on Fundora.”
THURMAN VS. FUNDORA AVERAGE BETTING ODDS:
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