Tom Brown wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if the first fight on the pay-per-view portion of the Tim Tszyu-Keith Thurman undercard March 30 in Las Vegas goes down as the most memorable match of the entire night.
The president of TGB Promotions, the primary promoter for Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions, considers Sebastian Fundora-Serhii Bohachuk a can’t-miss, all-action fight that will warrant consideration for annual awards by the end of 2024. Fundora (20-1-1, 13 KOs), of Coachella, California, and Ukraine’s Bohachuk (23-1, 23 KOs) will fight for the vacant WBC super welterweight title because former fully unified 154-pound champion Jermell Charlo (35-2-1, 19 KOs) has been downgraded to champion in recess by the Mexico City-based sanctioning organization.
“Opening the pay-per-view portion of our show is Sebastian Fundora taking on Sergii Bohachuk for the vacant WBC super welterweight title,” Brown stated during a press conference Wednesday at The Conga Room at L.A. Live in Los Angeles. “And let me tell ya, this fight has ‘Fight of the Year’ written all over it. So, you don’t wanna miss it. You wanna be there early for this fight.”
Fundora, 26, will perform for the first time since Brian Mendoza knocked him out in the seventh round of their fight for Fundora’s WBC interim super welterweight title last April 8 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. Albuquerque’s Mendoza (22-3, 16 KOs) trailed on all three scorecards – 60-54, 60-54 and 59-55 – when he drilled Fundora (20-1-1, 13 KOs) with a picture-perfect left hook and then a right-left combination that prevented Fundora from beating referee Ray Corona’s count in their “Showtime Championship Boxing” main event.
Fundora won’t have competed for nearly a full year by the time he and the hard-hitting Bohachuk box in the opener of PBC’s Amazon Prime Video pay-per-view show late next month at T-Mobile Arena.
Bohachuk, 28, has sparred many times with Fundora and thus realizes what type of fight to expect from the 6-foot-6 southpaw.
“You know, it’s my first title fight and a big fight for me and a big fight for my life, the best fight for my life,” Bohachuk said. “I’ll be ready for this fight a hundred percent. And I have [a] serious opponent, very serious. I know him. I have experience, I have sparring with him. I know [him]. I understand I need to be ready 100 percent for this fight. I’ll be ready. … I’ll show [a] good fight.”
Bohachuk, who trains and resides in the Los Angeles area, will take a five-fight winning streak into the Fundora fight. He has knocked out each of his five foes since Brandon Adams (23-3, 15 KOs), another Los Angeles-area contender, beat Bohachuk by eighth-round technical knockout in March 2021 in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.
Like Fundora when he lost to Mendoza, Bohachuk led Adams on all three scorecards – 69-63, 68-64 and 68-64 – when Adams’ left hook dropped and stopped him late in the eighth round.
Fundora, Bohachuk’s most formidable opponent since Adams defeated him, is nearly a 2-1 favorite according to DraftKings sportsbook.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.