03/28/26 11:07:00
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03/28 22:33 CDT Fundora retains WBC super welterweight title with 6th-round KO
of Thurman
Fundora retains WBC super welterweight title with 6th-round KO of Thurman
By MARK ANDERSON
AP Sports Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) --- Sebastian Fundora easily retained his WBC super welterweight
championship, knocking out Keith Thurman at 1:17 of the sixth round on Saturday
night.
Referee Thomas Taylor stopped the fight after Fundora battered Thurman
repeatedly, the former unified welterweight champion's bloody face showing the
damage.
The 6-foot-5 Fundora (24-1-1, 16 knockouts) used his nine-inch height and reach
advantage to pepper Thurman (31-2, 23 KOs) with a series of hard lefts and
combinations. Thurman managed to get into the occasional blow, but had to pick
his spots.
There just wasn't enough of an opportunity for him.
By the fifth round, Fundora was in complete control, delivering blow after blow
with Thurman against the ropes. A knockout seemed like a matter of time, and it
nearly came in the closing seconds of that round.
The moment, instead, occurred early in the sixth.
Fundora, a 28-year-old from Coachella, California, was a significant favorite
entering the bout, listed at -325 at BetMGM Sportsbook.
Thurman, a Clearwater, Florida resident, looked all of his 37 years old, and
perhaps after this night, it could have some big decisions to make about his
future. Thurman once ruled the welterweight division, his only loss before this
one occurring July 20, 2019, in a split-decision loss to Manny Pacquiao.
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AP boxing: https://apnews.com/boxing
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