A split judgment goes in favor of Fundora. An Australian fighter sustains head injuries in the second round of the Las Vegas contest, going down 116-112, 115-113, and 112-116 in a 12-round epic.
Tszyu was defeated by Fundora via split decision, with the judges scoring it 116–112, 115–113, and 112-116 in Fundora’s favor. The unfortunate Australian’s fight took a turn for the worse at the conclusion of the second round when he stepped on 197-cm Fundora’s elbow, leaving a massive cut on his head. However, he showed grace while losing.
As I mentioned earlier, I am a former boxer who can adapt to any situation. Although I was unable to see, the individual who won tonight deserves all the credit. Tszyu stated, These events take place. The momentum was building. In the opening rounds, I was swinging hard, and then—boom—you’re totally blinded. But this is boxing, you see. This occurs and is a component of the sport. Congrats to Fundora, who now stands at 154 (pounds) as the new monarch.
The world champion had controlled the first few exchanges, using some powerful right-hand strikes to put his tall opponent on the defensive. The fight doctor gave Tszyu the all-clear to continue despite the blood streaming down his face, but Fundora used the Australian’s impaired vision to tie the score.
Fundora’s nose was flowing blood, and both competitors were covered in it, yet the Australian persisted in trying to find a way to finish the fight quickly. Fundora pulled a cunning move by attempting to strike Tszyu in the head while the Sydney fighter, wiping blood from his eyes with his gloves, struggled to make his customary connection.
With Fundora edging ahead, the doctor again checked the cut at the start of the seventh round but gave the green light for it to go on. Like a gladiator, Tszyu battled on as he hunted a knockout blow but hindered by the blood flow, he was unable to stop the Californian.
Fundora’s win sees him join his younger sister Gabriela as a world champion after she captured the IBF flyweight world title earlier this year,
Tszyu was attempting for him and Kostya to join Leon and Corey Spinks as only the second father-and-son duo to become unified world boxing champions. He was also looking to set up a mega fight against either pound-for-pound king Terence Crawford or former unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr., with a pay check of $US10 million ($A15.3 million) on the table.
It ended a miserable 24 hours for Australian boxers with Liam Wilson and Michael Zerafa also losing their world title fights.
Erislandy Lara shattered Zerafa’s dream of winning a world title for his ailing sister, with the Cuban-American emphatically retaining his WBA middleweight crown. Australian Zerafa’s night ended in the second round after he was sent tumbling to the canvas.
Zerafa had dedicated the fight to older sister Michelle, who had surprised him by being by his side despite undergoing treatment for breast cancer. But the 40-year-old southpaw Lara showed he still had the slick moves that had made him a champion in his first fight since May 2022.
Both fighters felt their way through the opening round but Lara (30-4, 18KO) upped the stakes after coming out for the second. Lara unsettled Zerafa (31-5, 19KO) with a straight left and, sensing his opening, unleashed on his rival with a devastating right-left combination with the Victorian unable to continue.
Wilson also suffered heartbreak in Arizona a day earlier, the Australian boxer losing his super-featherweight world-title fight against Mexican Oscar Valdez. In front of a parochial full house at Desert Diamond Arena, the referee stopped the fight with 12 seconds left in the seventh round.
It had been a war of attrition, with both fighters taking plenty of punishment. While an aggressive Wilson was at high volume, more of the Mexican’s big punches landed. Former world champion Valdez unleashed in the seventh, raining blows on the Queenslander to end the fight by technical knockout.