Fundora injury postpones $74.99 Thurman PPV showdown

WBC junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora has reportedly suffered an injury to his left hand, forcing the postponement of his title defense against Keith “One Time” Thurman on October 25.

Injuries hit “Towering Inferno”

“The Towering Inferno” Fundora (23-1-1, 15 KOs) is a southpaw, so an injury to his left hand would affect him much more than if it were his right.

The entire PPV card schedule has been halted

The entire card, which includes a world title fight between WBC super featherweight champion O’Shaquie Foster and Stephen Fulton, will be rescheduled, along with the Fundora-Thurman fight.

Mike Coppinger broke the disappointing news X today. It is a bit surprising that it was the 27-year-old Fundora who suffered the injury and not Thurman, who has a long history of injury issues dating back to 2016.

Last year, Keith collapsed while training for a world title shot against then-WBO champion Tim Tszyu which was scheduled to take place on March 30, 2024. Fundora stepped in as a late substitute and defeated Tszyu by a 12-round split decision.

$74.99 PPV: Pretty expensive for the alternative

Take wood: With event sale for $74.99 on Amazon Prime Pay-per-view video, it makes sense to move it. For that kind of money, it was not possible to find a last-minute replacement and he was moved in as a replacement opponent for the soon-to-be 37-year-old Thurman (31-1, 23 KOs).

Furthermore, the risk of losing Thurman would have been higher. He was injured in the first round of his last fight against 2nd division titlist Brock Jarvis earlier this year on March 12. This performance showed that it is not a good idea to take risks with the old and rusty “Once”.

Matching Thurman against any top 15 junior middleweight contender would be extremely risky. Better save it for Fundora. It would be a disaster if Keith was destroyed by one of the lower tier contenders brought in as a replacement to save the October 25 fight date.

Fan reaction: Ignorance and frustration

Interestingly, fan reactions on social media were mixed, with some showing disappointment and a lot of apathy. The fight between Fundora and Thurman did not create the spark some thought it would.

It’s understandable, since Thurman has been too inactive since 2017 to maintain his popularity. The younger fans had never seen it before and were not excited about this match.

Many of them view Thurman as an ancient fossil from the age of dinosaurs, rather than as someone from a different era. Many of them don’t know who Keith is and consider him a guy who talks a lot about the good old days in his YouTube interviews. He brings back a lot of memories, and younger fans can’t relate to him.

It is still too early to know if the event will be rescheduled for the same venue at the MGM Grand, Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas.

Written by Ken Woods, a Ringside boxing analyst who has been covering world title fights since 2018.