Towering Sebastion Fundora fights Chordale Booker this Saturday

Sebastion Fundora is one tall fighter.

At 6-foot-6, he’s three inches taller than heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.

He’s also around 70 pounds lighter than Usyk.

That makes him lanky.

The aptly named “Towering Inferno” captured the vacant WBO and WBC junior middleweight world title with an upset split decision over Tim Tszyu. The bout was a bloody affair for both fighters. Tszyu appeared to be cruising to victory until suffering a deep gash – caused by a Fundora elbow. Fundora leaked blood from a broken nose.

Fundora (21-1, 13 KOs) will be back in the ring this Saturday defending his titles against Chordale Booker. A year ago, it looked like Errol Spence Jr. would face Fundora next, but that fight never materialized.

“You know, we were ready to fight. They kept just switching the dates,” Fundora said on FightHype.“I don’t know what happened on Spence’s end. I can’t speak on Spence’s behalf, but we were ready to fight. The dates kept changing for whatever reason, but I don’t know. We were training since last year for whatever was to come. They gave us a name like Spence. It didn’t happen, but here we are now.”

Yes, now Fundora will fight Booker, ranked fifth by the WBO with a gaudy record of 23 wins and only one loss. That loss was a bad one.

In 2022, Booker, who moved up to the middleweight division, boxed Ammo Williams evenly for over a minute of the opening stanza. Things changed quickly. Williams caught Booker with several hooks until Williams went down between the ropes. He made it up but swayed and staggered like a guy I saw outside a bar. The referee waved the fight off.  An off night? Caught cold?

The loss was tough, but Williams understands what happened.

“A lot of people say you lose, and you learn, and that’s what happened to me,” said Williams. I was cutting corners.”

Booker went back to the 154-pound division after the loss and has won six straight fights.

He’s fired up.

“I’ve done everything I could to get here,” said Booker. “I’ve gone the distance to make it to this fight. I’ve taken fights on short notice, fought for less, and always kept pushing forward. Now, 15 years into my boxing journey, I’m stepping into the biggest fight of my life. This is a dream come true. To be able to fight for a world title is amazing. Every time I think about it, it gives me chills.”

Fundora leaves his defense at home and rumbles. The strategy is debatable, but fans love it. His chin is there to be clipped. Erickson Lubon had him in big trouble, and Brian Mendoza knocked him out. He’s an affable guy and easy to pull for.

“I’m preparing really hard to defend my unified WBC and WBO world titles on March 22 in Las Vegas,” said Fundora. “Everyone can expect to see me prepared and ready to leave it all in the ring like I always do.”