Unlike many of his contemporaries, Brandun Lee isn’t in a rush to get a title shot.
The 23-year-old junior welterweight wants to take his time while developing, so that he is certain he is truly ready if that opportunity presents itself. Lee will take the next step in his progression against Pedro Campa on Saturday night in Carson, California.
Showtime will air the 10-round bout between Lee (27-0, 23 KOs), of La Quinta, California, and Campa (34-2-1, 23 KOs), of Hermosillo, Mexico, as the co-feature of a tripleheader set to start at 10 p.m. ET. Campa was stopped by former unified lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez (18-1, 13 KOs) in the seventh round of his most recent action seven months ago, but Lee considers the Mexican veteran the best opponent of his six-year pro career.
“Pedro Campa is a very strong, rugged, Mexican, veteran fighter,” Lee told BoxingScene.com. “We know that he has knockout power and he can also take a punch. He can give punches and take punches as well, so I’m expecting a great fight out of him.”
Lee will fight for the second time since surviving a scare during his 10-round points victory over Will Madera on August 20. Albany’s Madera (17-2-3, 10 KOs) became the first opponent to knock Lee to the canvas when a right hand dropped him in the third round of a bout Lee came back to win unanimously on the scorecards (98-91, 98-91, 98-91) at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
Lee stopped Argentina’s Diego Luque (21-11-2, 10 KOs) in the fourth round of his last fight January 7 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
“To me, that fight was just a sparring match back in January,” Lee said. “You know, that was really just for me to go in there and get comfortable again. Back in August, that was my first time touching the canvas, so my team wanted me to have a fight where I would just be cautious and that’s what we did.”
Lee returned to the gym soon after that win and sparred regularly against former WBC/WBO 140-pound champion Jose Ramirez (28-1, 18 KOs). His work with Ramirez instilled confidence in Lee, but he will take a patient approach toward pursuing a title shot as he attempts to fight four times in 2023.
“[This] month I’ll be 24 years old, so I’m still quite young for a professional fighter,” Lee said. “Everyone who’s a world champion at 140, they’re either in their late 20s or early 30s. So, I definitely wanna start attacking those top 15, top 10 guys, and letting my body mature as I get older. You know how they say you only have one life? Well, you only have one career, so I wanna take every step as cautiously as possible to know that I’m ready for the world title.”
Showtime’s telecast Saturday night will feature Sebastian Fundora (20-0-1, 13 KOs), a 6-foot-6 southpaw from Coachella, California, and Brian Mendoza (21-2, 15 KOs), of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in a 12-round fight for Fundora’s WBC interim super welterweight title. Luis Nunez (18-0, 13 KOs), a featherweight contender from the Dominican Republic, will meet Mexico’s Christian Olivo (20-0-1, 7 KOs) in the 10-round opener of Showtime’s broadcast.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.