LAS VEGAS — Tim Tszyu and Sebastian Fundora’s super welterweight clash Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas was one for the savages.
If, for some unknown reason, you ever wake up some mornings and long for the days when sword-fights were normalized in medieval society, then watch Tszyu-Fundora — and watch it again and again. These dogs, you see, looked like they’d been on the wrong end of a tussle with a cordless hedge trimmer.
Tszyu accidentally butted the top of his skull against Fundora’s elbow, opening a ghastly gash that wept claret all fight long.
Any attempt his cornermen made between rounds to stop the bleeding were futile. They slathered vaseline over the wound, yet it still wept throughout the rest of the fight.
Fundora’s long 6-foot-6 frame was often covered in blood.
But not all of it belonged to Tszyu, as the visiting Australian had pummeled him early and often, forcing Fundora to bleed profusely from the nose.
It was chaos.
Tszyu was ahead, clearly, after the opening three rounds but the cut on top of his head swung momentum to Fundora.
Blinded by the blood in his eyes, and likely faint of mind due to the sheer amount of blood loss, Tszyu just wasn’t the same fighter after the cut.
Fundora had his own adversity, rallying despite a broken nose to land 194 shots from 721 thrown.
Before he suffered the cut, Tszyu stayed relatively close to Fundora’s punch output. But, after, Fundora rose in confidence and just slugged away, limiting Tszyu to 400 shots thrown — almost half his output — by the end of the bout.
One judge scored the fight 116-112 to Tszyu but was overruled by scores of 116-112 and 115-113 to Fundora.
Though there is a rematch clause, it seems unlikely either fighter will enforce it. Tszyu didn’t really mention Fundora in his post-match speech, and, during Fundora’s interview, Errol Spence Jr. walked into the ring to size up the new unified champion at 154-pounds.
Spence even said “the big dog” was here, suggesting a bout between Fundora and Spence will take place later this year.
“Errol is one of the pound for pound greats,” Fundora said. “So fighting him and getting a win would be history for me.”
‘Pitbull’ Cruz dog-walked Romero, and called for ‘Tank’ rematch
Isaac Cruz performed so remarkably Saturday that it will have accelerated his journey to superstar status.
A clear fan favorite, Cruz walked to the ring amid loud chants of ‘Me-hi-co! Me-hi-co! Me-hi-co!’
Rolando Romero was never able to silent them. Instead, he was raucously booed, and could only scowl in the middle of the ring before the opening bell sounded.
In the opening few rounds, Romero threw only half jabs which served as a contrast to Cruz’s hard flurries thrown from close range.
During one burst of pace, in which he locked up one of Romero’s arms, he staggered Rolly who looked dazed and confused with a minute still to go before the break ahead of the second round.
The fact he could hurt Romero early proved to be an omen. The Vegas boxer was never in the fight, lost consecutive rounds, and was continuously second best during punch exchanges.
Romero tried to keep Cruz at bay by darting out of the danger zone, back and forth as well as laterally, and even kept his jabbing arm extended to try and keep Isaac at a distance.
However, Cruz’s clubbing shots to the body seemed like intent to slow Romero’s movement.
By the third, and into the fourth, Romero realized his best chance of success was boxing at mid and longer distances.
But, against Cruz, with his hard hands and harder head, it was only a matter of time before he kept scoring significant damage.
And, then, the eighth round happened.
Cruz landed 11 punches from 19 shots thrown, according to Compubox data sent to The Sporting Tribune, while limiting Romero to a mere three shots landed.
The killer blow — struck while Cruz had Romero against the ropes — included multiple lefts and rights to each side of the jaw, prompting the referee Tom Taylor to step in and wave the bout off.
It was all over.
Romero, who looked like a sitting duck for much of the match, may be forced to walk a long road back to the world title stage as he surrendered his WBA strap to Cruz.
Meanwhile, because of his exciting style and growing fanbase, may have booked himself a rematch against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.
“I wasn’t here to just fight,” said Cruz after his win. “I was here to terminate him.”
As for ‘Tank’ Davis, Cruz said: “If he isn’t scared, let’s go for the rematch.”
Premier Boxing Champions scored well on Amazon Prime debut
The dramatic nature of the main event and the fan favorite Cruz winning well weren’t the only storylines from the Premier Boxing Champions event.
There was also a nasty second-round knockout win from Erislandy Lara, a banger between Julio Cesar Martinez and Angelino Cordova, and rising star Curmel Moton — still only 17 — learning more about life in the ring as Anthony Cuba took him the distance.
There was drama from the top of the card to the bottom, and though there were no major box office attractions competing on the night, there was quality mayhem, fantastic finishes, and fun fights.
It bodes well for PBC’s ongoing relationship with new partner Amazon Prime, as the partners go from this debut broadcast to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s return to the ring against Jaime Munguia on May 4.
