A mammoth card at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas sees the start of PBC’s deal with Amazon, and WBO super welterweight champion Tim Tszyu makes a first defence against late replacement Sebastian Fundora in the main event. The vacant WBC title is also at stake in Sin City.
Amazon Prime broadcast Tszyu vs Fundora in the US via pay-per-view, whilst UK fans can watch on Fite TV.
Tszyu (24-0, 17 KOs) was due to face Keith Thurman, but the former welterweight world champion suffered an injury with days to go to the fight, and with Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KOs) already on this bill, he was drafted in as a replacement.
Tszyu patiently waited for a shot at the world title, with Jermell Charlo suffering injury, and then taking a fight with Saul Alvarez before being stripped of the WBO title in August last year.
Tszyu had established himself as WBO Interim champion in the intervening months, and the Aussie was upgraded to full champion after a clear decision win against Brian Mendoza last October. He also holds wins over Tony Harrison and Carlos Ocampo, all in 2023.
Fundora served as WBC interim champion, and was building good momentum after defeating Sergio Garcia and Erickson Lubin, and forced Ocampo to retire after nine rounds of a 2022 thriller. His last outing spelt disaster though, as the rangy Californian southpaw suffered a crushing seventh round knockout defeat to Brian Mendoza last April.
Prediction: Tszyu is looking every bit as good as his father Kostya, and some cracking 2024 contests can be made with victory here. Fundora is a tall opponent for the weight, but Tszyu may well target the body, and force a mid to late stoppage.
Four world title bouts feature on stacked undercard
WBA super lightweight champion, Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero (15-1, 13 KOs) makes a first defence, and he takes on Isaac Cruz (25-2-1, 17 KOs) Romero lost to Gervonta Davis in a bid for the WBA lightweight title in 2022, but moved up to take the vacant belt in May 2023, halting Ismael Barroso in nine when behind on the cards.
Mexico’s Cruz has won four straight since also losing to Davis in 2021, and his last win was in July 2023, a split decision against Giovanni Cabrera.
Prediction: Romero has been frustrated by injury in recent times, but he can return here with a points win to keep hold of his belt.
Erislandy Lara (29-3-3, 17 KOs) remains an enigma, and the WBA middleweight champion defends against Australia’s Michael Zerafa (31-4, 19 KOs).
In his last two fights @LaraBoxing he can not only dominate his opponents, but he still has the power to put them away.
Lara battles Michael Zerafa on the undercard of #TszyuFundora for the WBA Middlweight 👑 this Saturady on #PBConPrime. Order now: https://t.co/gPo68woorT pic.twitter.com/WyVabYZk2f
— Premier Boxing Champions (@premierboxing) March 27, 2024
Lara moved up from 154 pounds in 2021, where he reigned as WBA (super) champion for a spell, and he took the vacant WBA strap at 160 by wiping out Thomas LaManna inside a round. He defended with an eighth round stoppage over Gary O’Sullivan in May 2022, but hasn’t been seen since.
Zerafa is battle-hardened, only losing in good company, and his last defeat came in 2019, stopped in nine by Jeff Horn after winning in the same round four months earlier. The Melbourne man has won four on the spin since, the last a decision win over ten against Danilo Creati in November 2022.
Prediction: Both are coming off long layoffs here, so it could well be a slow start. Lara is a tricky type, and I think this will allow him to take a points win.
Julio Cesar Martinez (20-3, 15 KOs) makes a sixth defence of his WBC flyweight title, and Angelino Cordova (18-0-1, 12 KOs) is his opponent. Martinez won the title in 2019, but decided to move up to take on Roman Gonzalez in 2022, and blew the weight, before losing a clear unanimous decision.
He returned to defend his title at the back end of 2022, and his last defence came last May, an eleventh round stoppage of Ronal Batista. Venezuela’s Cordova hasn’t been past ten rounds, and was last seen last April, taking a tight points win against Angel Acosta.
Julio Cesar Martinez STOPS Ronal Rolando Batista with a big flurry of punches. 👊💥#CaneloRyder is LIVE on DAZN PPV in the US and Canada and available as part of your regular subscription in selected territories. pic.twitter.com/xa5x1mD0Ls
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) May 7, 2023
Prediction: Martinez will look to rebuild momentum here, and can retain his title on the scorecards after an entertaining scrap.
The aforementioned Brian Mendoza (22-3, 16 KOs) also sees action, and he can claim the WBC interim super welterweight title by stopping Serhii Bohachuk (23-1, 23 KOs) in what could well be a shootout.
The only ten round bout comes at middleweight, where Elijah Garcia (16-0, 13 KOs) should have enough to outscore Kyrone Davis (18-3-1, 6 KOs), and the sole eight rounder is at featherweight, where Mirco Cuello (13-0, 11 KOs) can win inside schedule against Sulaiman Segawa (16-3-1, 6 KOs).
Return of Curmel Moton and other PBC prospects
In six rounders at super featherweight, Curmel Moton (2-0, 2 KOs) can get the better of Anthony Cuba (7-0-2, 3 KOs) on the cards, and Kaipo Gallegos (3-0-1, 3 KOs) can also win on points against Eric Howard (6-1, 1 KO).
The sole four rounder should see a win for debutant Adrian Neaves, likely to be on points against Steven Walker (0-1) at super lightweight.
