The tall and the short of it – Sebastian Fundora vs. Keith Thurman

Sebastian Fundora is six-foot-five or six-foot-six. Pick your poison. That’s extremely tall for junior middleweight (154 pounds)

Hell, it’s somewhat tall for a heavyweight in today’s game.

Keith Thurman is five-foot-seven. Yep, I ran into him years ago. Short but quick.

Fundora will have a colossal advantage of 11 inches in reach when he fights Thurman on March 28th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV. He’s got George Foreman beat in that area.

But will it be enough to defeat Thurman? He boldly predicted he’d be the first fighter to knock out Thurman.

Thurman found it amusing.

“Hey man, he’s more than welcome to try, you know,” said the former two-time champion last week.

Regarding a knockout, Thurman countered with, “His chin is easy to reach. He added in an interview, Don’t matter if (Fundora) is 6 foot 6, 6 foot 7 … he can’t stop me. Fundora doesn’t know what’s about to hit him.”

Fundora considers his fight with Thurman just another day at the office.

“We’re ready to defend our title and remain WBC Super Welterweight World Champion,” Fundora said during last week’s news conference. “I’m just looking at Keith as another fight. I’ve fought a reigning champion and former champions. So I just have to see it as another fight. I have to go make the ring mine and make this fight mine as well.”

Thurman, 37, was named WBA welterweight champion in 2016. He defeated Shawn Porter in a barnburner and added the WBC strap by edging Danny Garcia less than a year later. One of many injuries sidelined him after the Garcia victory. Thurman (31-1, 23 KOs) came back two years later to fight Manny Pacquiao with his WBA title on the line. Yacking up a storm, he motivated Pacquiao, who knocked him down in round two and won the fight.

He didn’t return to the ring until 2022, stopping Mario Barrios. Another long layoff (37 months) ended last year when he traveled to Australia and beat up Brock Jarvis.

Fundora, 28, won the WBO and vacant WBC titles at 154lbs in March 2024 with a split decision over b;oody Tim Tszyu. Two fights have followed. He stopped Tszyu in a rematch and took out Chordale Booker in March 2025.  Fundora was an immediate hit with fans due to his style. Instead of using his God-given advantages, Fundora preferred to bang. Fundora was 18-0 when he met capable Erickson Lubin in 2022. Fundora and Lubin went at it hard, knocking each other down, until Fundora ended things in round nine.

A year later, he met slugger Brian Mendoza. Fundora boxed more and dominated most of the fight until Mendoza’s left hook leveled him for the count.

The loss appears to be the best thing that has ever happened to the nice guy from Coachella, CA.

Since that loss and an earlier war with Tsyzu, Fundora has worked behind his pipe like jab, stabbing opponents and keeping them off balance. Even his defense has improved.

Thurman has a plan.

“I’m gonna look to set traps, drop those heavy hammers on him, and hopefully go home early,” he told www.boxingnews24.com a few weeks ago.

Fundora is quietly confident.

“I’m the younger guy, and I’m the champion, Fundora said. “Lots of things favor me in this fight. You can’t just rely on that, of course. But I’m extremely confident and more mature at this point in my career.”