Sebastian Fundora is daring Ermal Hadribeaj to bring the fight to him this Saturday. The WBC junior middleweight champion insists that if Hadribeaj comes looking for trouble, he is only walking right into counters.
Reaching a 6’6” giant is tough enough, but staying in the pocket against someone who loves close combat is even tougher.
“The fact that he wants to go and try to hurt us. Bring it on. Bring it on because that makes it that much easier,” Fundora said to the media today.
Fundora calls standing and trading on the inside pure immaturity, even while admitting it is his favorite way to scrap. Both his father and WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman have pleaded with him to box smarter, but the tall southpaw cannot resist a brawl.
“You know I love fighting like that,” Fundora explained. “Everybody thinks we’re going to be boxing the inside. And now a couple people are thinking they’re going to box on the outside. Remember, we could do both.”
Pumping his jab from long range forces Hadribeaj to cross a minefield just to let his hands go. Hadribeaj might get clean looks up close, yet Fundora thinks critics ignore the brutal toll required to actually reach him.
“A lot of people say that just get on the inside, break his body, and knock the tree down,” Fundora noted. “Go and do it. Come in here and take a million punches and get in there, but by the time you step back out, you’re probably done.”
That willingness to trade remains Fundora’s biggest risk. He gives up his massive physical gifts simply because he relishes the trenches, which gives Hadribeaj a real opening if Fundora lingers after unloading.
Fundora also refuses to believe a cautious approach will save the challenger.
“If you’re not going to throw as much against me, you’re just giving me openings. You’re giving me time,” Fundora stated.
Hadribeaj cannot just march in with blind aggression. He needs calculated, damaging pressure, because reckless forward motion gives Fundora the exact brawl he thrives on.
