Rewind a couple of weeks or so, and not too many fight fans were talking Sebastian Fundora. Now, however, courtesy of what happened over the course of Saturday’s fight between Fundora and Tim Tszyu, who Fundora became a late substitute opponent for when Keith Thurman fell out – “The Towering Inferno” is on every fan’s lips. And a fight between the once-beaten 26 year old and reigning pound-for-pound king, Terence Crawford, is arguably the most downright fascinating fight out there right now.
And Fundora Vs. Crawford has been ordered by the WBO, with the new WBO ruler at 154 now obliged to make his first title defence against the 40-0 master. It’s not a definite the fight happens (and the badly bloodied Tszyu of course wants his rematch with the tall and long-limbed slugger who took both his belt and unbeaten record). But who out there isn’t ultra keen on seeing what would happen if future Hall of Famer, some say all-time great, Crawford matched his skills against Fundora?
Dimensions are of course hugely important in any fight, and as special as “Bud” is, against Fundora, he would be going in with a man with super-special Dimensions. And Fundora has now shown us how fine his jab, his very long jab, is. Additionally, Fundora is a proven warrior with immense heart and courage. At getting on for 40 years old, might Crawford be taking on a fighter who is just about all that could be wrong for him at this stage of his career?
Crawford would be (or will be) giving up a heck of a lot in both height and reach in a fight with the 6’6″ and appropriately listed 80-inch reached Fundora. How would/will Crawford be able to cope when trying to get in close in order to go to work? Again, who doesn’t want to find out?
Might Fundora keep Crawford at the end of his jab for getting on the whole fight? Might Fundora prove to be the most testing opponent of Crawford’s whole career? Then again, might Crawford show us all again, remind us all again, how great he is, this by giving the bigger but slower Fundora a boxing lesson?
If Crawford were able to dominate Fundora, it might prove far more impressive to the experts than his commanding win over Errol Spence (who is also in the conversation as far as who Fundora could fight down the road).
Timing is hugely important in boxing, and Sebastian Fundora might be the man who takes on Terence Crawford at just the right time – for him, not for Crawford. And physical dimensions are also instrumental in the outcome of a fight.
Or at least they can be.
Is the timing of this fight, along with the sheer size of his would-be foe, all right or all wrong for Crawford?