Fundora takes on Mendoza while awaiting world title shot

Junior middleweights headline Saturday night on Showtime

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Sebastian Fundora, the 6-foot-6 “Towering Inferno,” is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

As the WBC interim junior middleweight titleholder he is on the doorstep of the world title opportunity that he wants. But because undisputed champion Jermell Charlo holds all four belts and is backed up with other mandatory defenses ahead of Fundora in the rotation system used to determine the order of mandatories for unified champions, Fundora is in the queue behind WBO interim titlist Tim Tszyu, who is up next, and then IBF No. 1 contender Bakhram Murtazaliev.

The fact that Charlo is still recovering from a broken hand that forced the fight with Tszyu in January to be postponed until at least this summer just extends Fundora’s waiting period.

But Fundora obviously is not about to sit around and waiting for a shot. So, he returns to the ring to defend his interim 154-pound belt for the second time when he meets Brian Mendoza in the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions tripleheader on Saturday (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET) at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

“Jermell Charlo, of course, is the guy we want,” Fundora said this week. “Whoever falls in line though, we’ll take who we can get. The job is to beat the guy in front of you.”

He plans to do that against Mendoza (21-2, 15 KOs), 29, of Las Vegas, who is brimming with confidence coming off his biggest win, a fifth-round knockout of former unified junior middleweight titlist Jeison Rosario in a November middleweight fight that sent Rosario into retirement.

“We’re just ready to put on a good show,” Fundora said. “It feels great to be fighting tough guys like Mendoza and that’s what I want to do again and again. I love fighting in front of these fans in Southern California.”

Fundora (20-0-1, 13 KOs), 25, a southpaw from Coachella, California, claimed the vacant interim belt via ninth-round knockout of Erickson Lubin in April 2022 in a fight of the year contender and then easily outpointed Carlos Ocampo to retain it in October, also at Dignity Health Sports Park.

“I feel like I’ve been proving myself over and over again. We’re waiting for our shot to fight for the title,” said Fundora, whose father, Freddy, trains him and younger sister Gabriela Fundora, a flyweight on the undercard. “They keep putting guys in front of me who they say will knock me out or expose me, but I keep proving them wrong.”

Mendoza has won two fights in a row since dropping a 10-round decision Jesus Ramos, who is one of boxing’s up-and-comers, in September 2021.

He was the underdog when he knocked out Rosario and is the underdog against Fundora as well. It is a role Mendoza, who is about 7 inches shorter than Fundora, embraces.

“I’m just super excited. In my last performance I was a big underdog and everyone saw the result,” said Mendoza, who is trained by Ismael Salas, who last week led Robeisy Ramirez to a featherweight world title. “You can expect the same type of performance and result on Saturday night. The win is everything. I’ve dedicated it all to this. I’ve had setbacks, but I’m proof that you just have to work hard. Now I’m in the main event and I’m looking to keep the journey going. This isn’t the end of the story.

“This is gonna be another explosive upset. I put everything into this camp. I sacrificed day in and day out. No matter how it comes, it’s gonna be explosive. I’ve seen all of Fundora’s fights and I’ve always had something in the back of my head that told me I was going to fight him. I was always ready and as soon as they called for this fight, there was no hesitation from me.”

There was no hesitation from Fundora either to fight Mendoza.

“This fight is as important as every other fight before,” Fundora said. “Mendoza is a contender as well and we’re not looking at him lightly. We have to get past Mendoza if we want to even think of fighting for the championship.

“I feel like some people are trying to skip me in order for the title, but I’m remaining patient and staying focused on this fight. I just have to keep moving forward while everything else gets dealt with.”

Showtime undercard

There are also two scheduled 10-rounders on the telecast:

• Junior welterweight Brandun Lee (27-0, 23 KOs), 23, of La Quinta, California, faces Pedro Campa (34-2-1, 23 KOs), 31, of Mexico, in the co-feature.

• Featherweight Luis Nunez (18-0, 13 KOs), 23, of the Dominican Republic, takes on Christian Olivo (20-0-1, 7 KOs), 24, of Mexico, in a battle of unbeaten and untested prospects in the opener.

Official weights

Weights from Carson, California, for Saturday’s PBC card (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET): Sebastian Fundora 153.3 pounds, Brian Mendoza 153.5 (for Fundora’s WBC interim junior middleweight title); Brandun Lee 141.3, Pedro Campa 141.2; Luis Nunez 125.9, Christian Olivo 125.4; Gabriel Maestre 150.1, Devon Alexander 152.5 (was over the 151 contract weight and was fined); Adrian Corona 134.3, Jerry Perez 134.9; Frank Sanchez 247.4, Daniel Martz 275; Gabriela Fundora 109.75, Maria Micheo 109.25; Chris Arreola 245.8, Matthew McKinney 279.5; Gabriel Garcia 129.25, Marco Diaz 129.4; Viktor Slavinskyi 129.8, Juan Lopez 129.5; Federico Pacheco 253.6, Felipe Torres 252; Justin Viloria 128.4, Sirdarious Smith 129.

Official purses

Per California State Athletic Commission, official purses: Sebastian Fundora $400,000, Brian Mendoza $85,000; Brandun Lee $100,000, Pedro Campa $40,000; Luis Nunez $20,000, Christian Olivo $20,000; Devon Alexander $25,000 (but fined $5,000 for being overweight), Gabriel Maestre $15,000 (adds $2,500 from Alexander’s fine, the other $2,500 goes to the commission); Adrian Corona $7,500, Jerry Perez $8,000; Frank Sanchez $25,000, Daniel Martz $20,000; Gabriela Fundora $15,000, Maria Micheo $12,500; Chris Arreola $25,000, Matthew McKinney $15,000; Gabriel Garcia $6,000, Marco Diaz $6,000; Viktor Slavinskyi $8,000, Juan Lopez, $8,000; Federico Pacheco $2,500, Felipe Torres $2,500; Justin Viloria $3,000, Sirdarious Smith $3,000.

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Photos: Esther Lin/Showtime

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