Tszyu with a full training camp focused on Fundora beats Fundora. Tszyu didn’t have almost a full training camp focused on Fundora, who is a 6’5″+ southpaw, and not the aging, 5’7″ right-handed welterweight Tszyu signed up to fight. This gives Fundora a chance to pull off an upset.
I’m betting on Fundora to get enough rounds, but in this case it’s 50/50 because I think Tszyu really is the better fighter. Fundora won’t push for the win because that’s just not the way he fights, which is the real standard these days for guys who are abnormally high in the division, almost like a guy they like to fight in the middle. In fact, it’s the novel expected style where everyone tries to be “surprisingly good midfield players!” instead of just doing what should come naturally with their natural advantages, so much so that it would actually be more stereotype-breaking to have a distance-keeping jabbing machine with a huge height and reach advantage, more or less as it would be in What’s actually more creative at this point is to write a story about a clown who’s just a dumb dude who shows up at birthday parties and doesn’t have any sinister plans. Fundora SD-12
Will Esco (5-2)
There are those who expect Fundora to give Tszyu a tougher test than Keith Thurman, and I am one of them. Not only is the fundora a completely different animal, its dimensions make it threatening to almost anyone in its weight class. That being said, Fundora doesn’t usually apply his massive height and reach to his advantage, which is why he’s built to be a reliable action fighter who’s fun to watch. If this fight turns into something like Fundora vs. Erickson Lubin, I think Tszyu will be a better fit for this type of fight because he has more bang in his punches.
Tsyzu may be reaching an elite level soon, but I appreciate his willingness to take on all comers and I think he’s still fresh enough to give his all tonight. I will take Tszyu to survive Fundora in a grueling effort. Tszyu TKO-9
John Hansen (6-1)
I did something I very rarely do and checked the gambling lines in this fight before making my pick. Most places give Fundora about a 20 percent chance of fighting here, but I think it’s more of a 60/40 fight, especially considering the brief notice and what Tszyu was preparing for less than two weeks ago.
Watching enough Fundora finally convinced me, probably around the time of the Erickson Lubin fight, that it was a real movie and not just a giraffe-man freak show. It’s debatable whether he can handle the force… I think his kneeling before Lubin and the way he used that time to serene down and regain control of the fight is a very positive sign. He tried to fight Mendoza and it finished him off. Will he be able to stay sane when Tszyu takes a substantial shot? Maybe!
On the other hand, if Fundora avoids the brain-bending blow, can Tszyu do what no one else has ever done and beat Fundora in the 12? He did a good strategic job against Harrison and Gausha. But he had over 13 days to prepare for them, and none of them are as special as Fundora.
In my eyes this is a much closer fight than the bookmaker. However, I still favor Tszyu, who I think will hurt Fundora at least once or twice and should be aware of closing the deal when he does. Tszyu KO-10
Patrick Stumberg (6-1)
The fundamental point for Fundora is that the demands he demands from his opponent (endurance, stamina, internal combat prowess) are the same things Tszyu excels at. Tim struggles with counter-attackers who can take advantage of his sluggish footwork; he would jump at the chance to just sit in the pocket and trade concussions until someone falls down.
Fundora’s only advantage is that he was preparing for the seemingly similar Serhiy Bohachuk, while Tszyu had to throw away all his notes on Keith Thurman. But it wouldn’t diminish the advantage even in the best of times, and I wouldn’t call “first fight since being thrown into Bolivia” the best of times. Tszyu is simply too good at the only type of fighting Fundora knows in “Towering Inferno” to tire him out; expect a “TIMBER” moment somewhere around the middle. Tszyu TKO-5
Rolly Rollie Rolliesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss puncher and has some natural physical abilities that, if properly trained as a professional boxer, could make him very threatening. But his boxing reeks of upper- and mid-level, let alone high. It’s not that Cruz is a great technician or a one-punch brutalist, or that Romero will be challenging to hit.
I just think Cruz is a better, more persistent boxer. He’s a smaller man, but he packs a search-and-destroy punch. Granted, this gives Rolly a chance to drop a substantial bomb in a shootout, but the shootout could also just overwhelm Romero, who doesn’t have quick hands and could get caught with his wheels turning. There’s also a chance that Rolly’s condition has improved since we last saw him. Romero may win this fight, but I’m betting on Cruz. Cruz via TKO-8
Will Esco (5-2)
I have no doubt that this is a fight where Rolly will try to play the role of an aggressive counter-attacker, the question is whether he can do it well enough and long enough to keep Pitbull from getting dizzy going I think Rolly is at least punching enough strongly that he has the potential to catch a Pitbull coming into action, but this is also one of those scenarios where he will have to walk a tightrope as his boxing skills are not one of his natural strengths.
It wouldn’t shock me at all if this fight became disorganized for an extended period of time, and I think it’s a fight where Rolly either blows away Pitbull by getting on the field early or gets overwhelmed because his footwork isn’t good enough to stop Pitbull. Cruz UD-12
John Hansen (6-1)
I’m not saying that Rolly Romero is the weakest champion in boxing today. The middleweight belt being decided right before Rolly steps into the ring is enough to argue that he won’t even be the weakest champion on this card.
The truth, however, is that Romero “won” his title by being well outworked by a guy who looks ancient enough to be christened Luis Ortiz. And he holds that belt, at least to some extent, because it was during that fight that Tony Weeks may have first realized that the referee’s paycheck is the same whether he fights the full 12 rounds or finishes it frustratingly quickly when the fighter Team B pauses to take a deep breath.
As for Isaac Cruz, I’ve said this before, but he’s smiling like a shark without a soul:
Mindy Tiny/Getty Images and Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
He also fights like a shark. Tenacious, aggressive and persistent. Not as talented as Tank Davis, but probably immediately more threatening due to his relative recklessness. I like him to win pretty early, and I wouldn’t be shocked if it happened sooner than I daresay. Cruz KO-5
Patrick Stumberg (6-1)
Isaac Cruz is not the type of juggernaut; many of his most notable victories came over underpowered and/or overshadowed opponents, and he also had his share of setbacks against the likes of Jose Matias Romero and Giovanni Cabrera. He’s still on the way way better than Rolly Romero. Romero has four inches of height and five inches of reach in “Pitbull”, but he lacks the skills to apply them, as evidenced by his utter inability to stop the old Ismael Barroso from employing a meat-and-potatoes strategy.
And I don’t think I need to tell you how outclassed Romero is internally.
The only things Romero has to offer are quick reflexes and solid strength, neither of which should bother someone who lasted 36 minutes under Gervonta Davis. Of course, Cruz has the disadvantage of being a lightweight, but I think it’s outweighed by Romero’s disadvantage of being Rolly Romero. Cruz chases him down and brutalizes his body to finish him off in the end. Cruz via TKO-10
Nathan Heaney defended his British middleweight title after a draw with Brad Pauls tonight in Birmingham, England, and both fighters put on an exceptional, grueling fight that represented the best possible British title fights.
Heaney (18-0-1, 6 KO) had one card in his favor, 116-113, and another went to Pauls (18-1-1, 10 KO) with a score of 115-114. The final card was even at 114-114. All were reasonable scores.
Bad Left Hook unofficially scored the fight 115-113 for Heaney.
Heaney, 34, was making his first defence of the belt he won from Denzel Bentley last year and his vocal fan base backed his game, making the fight in Birmingham even better. But against the determined 30-year-old Pauls it was never going to be effortless and by the end of the dramatic 12-round fight both men were bloodied and battered.
It would seem a good idea to repeat the fight in a rematch this summer, when Heaney hopes to fight outdoors in his hometown of Stoke.
In the main event, rising super bantamweight contender Liam Davies continued his thrilling run to a world title with a second-round TKO victory over Eric Robles.
Davies (16-0, 8 KO) won the slightly perceived IBO “world championship” with this victory, but in fact it is no secret that he will want to reach for one of the remaining titles. The division is, of course, currently ruled by undisputed champion Naoya Inoue, which is an undisputed statement as no one considers the IBO to be a contentious issue. But Davies is a real contender at 122 pounds and he’s damn fun to watch.
Heavyweight Joe Joyce returned and looked uncertain, but he defeated Kash Ali by knockout in the final round with seven seconds left in the fight. Ali (21-3, 12 KO) got up, but at nine o’clock, and referee Kevin Parker ordered the fight and announced that he had counted to 10.
It really wasn’t an encouraging performance for the 38-year-old Joyce (16-2, 15 KOs), who weighed a career-best 286 pounds and looked ponderous and robotic even for him, coming off two straight losses to Zhilei Zhang.
Dennis McCann retained his Commonwealth super bantamweight title and added the previously vacant British title with a unanimous decision victory over Brad Strand. The scores were 116-112, 116-111 and 118-111 for McCann (15-0-1, 8 KO), who seemed to believe he won every round.
Bad Left Hook led 117-110 for McCann, giving Strand (11-1, 3 KO) the final two rounds, which McCann survived while the underdog gave it his all and fired a few shots. Strand never came close to winning at any point and was eliminated in the second round.
William Zepeda performed as expected tonight in the DAZN main event, completely overwhelming Maxie Hughes for four rounds before Hughes’ corner was forced to stop the fight.
Zepeda (30-0, 26 KO), known for his pressure and exact volume, started speedy, but Hughes (26-7-2, 5 KO) was expecting that and started speedy himself, ready to counter as often as he could, landing some well-timed shots. The problem for Hughes, however, is that the pace was one that Zepeda was completely accustomed to, while Hughes is not, and it quickly began to work.
By the second round, Hughes was already showing difficulty maintaining the pace that Zepeda was setting and was unable to land anything significant that would stop Zepeda from coming at him without a worry. By the third and fourth rounds, Hughes was basically exhausted and had to spend time trying to defend as much as possible in the face of an overwhelming attack.
By the end of round 4, Hughes had taken as good a beating as many fighters take on the 12, and since it was obvious at that point that he had nothing left to offer in the way of resistance, Hughes’ corner thankfully stopped the fight.
DAZNand Social Media9:00 a.m. Eastern time, Smith vs. Zepeda press conference.
DAZNand Social Media6:30 p.m. Eastern time X Series 013 press conference.
Friday, March 22
DAZNand Social Media9:00 a.m. Eastern Time, Smith vs. Zepeda Weigh-In.
ThrillerTV+1:00 p.m. Eastern time BKFC 58 Bulgaria: Toni Markulev vs Kaloyan Kolev.
TNT Sports (UK)2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Chris Bourke vs. Ashley Lane fight. For the vacant British bantamweight title. This isn’t the one that ESPN+ felt was necessary.
DAZNand Social Media6:30 p.m. Eastern time X Series 013 weighing.
Saturday, March 23
DAZNand Social Media12:30 EST, Smith vs. Zepeda Preliminaries.
DAZN15:00 Eastern time, Dalton Smith vs. Jose Zepeda. Matchroom gives Smith a test he must pass here. Zepeda is past its best days and hasn’t had a really good win since 2020, but it’s a famed international brand and all that. If Smith is who Matchroom wants him to be, he should win here easily.
DAZN7:30 p.m. Eastern time Series X 013: Fox the G vs. Most Evil Tag Team. That’s right, a 2-on-1 match. I don’t know how much more clearly we can show that this has gone down to the pro wrestling level, but it’s actually unfair. Being a pro wrestler would be a step up.
ThrillerTV PPV20:00 Eastern time, Sebastien Bouchard vs. Jan Michael Poulin. 20 dollars! This is why! I mean, you can do whatever you like. We all have our quirks. Free prelims are also available an hour earlier on TrillerTV.
Sunday, March 24
ThrillerTV PPV8:00 PM EST, “Celebrity” is currently fighting Las Vegas. Apparently, this event is attended by “stars”. It’s $15. For “celebrities”.
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