Just when it seemed Sebastian Fundora would settle for an ugly, unanimous decision Saturday night, “The Towering Inferno” finally finished off Ermal Hadribeaj.
Fundora floored Hadribeaj with a left hand that connected just before the final bell sounded to end their main event at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Hadribeaj got to his feet before referee Thomas Taylor counted to 10, but he waved an end to their 154-pound championship clash even though the action couldn’t have continued.
The official time of the stoppage was 2:59 of the final round. Fundora comfortably led by scores of 109-98, 108-99 and 107-100.
Fundora (25-1-1, 17 KOs), who went off as a 20-1 favorite according to DraftKings, retained his WBC belt. The Ring’s No. 3 contender for an unclaimed junior middleweight title hopes his fifth straight win leads to facing the winner of an upcoming title unification bout between WBA/WBO champ Jaron “Boots” Ennis and IBF titleholder Josh Kelly.
“It was an interesting fight because I kinda had to go back to my beginning type of fights and fight on the inside and show everybody again that I can fight on the inside,” Fundora told DAZN’s Chris Mannix in the ring. “But we still got the job done. I like that we knocked him out the last second. It was like dramatic, like a Bernard Hopkins type of way. So, I’m very happy with that. But we’ll go back to the gym and fix some things.”
Hadribeaj’s holding marred what was a competitive contest for two-thirds of it and cost the challenger two points. The Miami-based Albanian, 32, landed numerous left hands on Fundora, though, and undoubtedly came to pull off a huge upset.
Hadribeaj (23-1-1, 8 KOs), ranked No. 9 by The Ring, became the mandatory challenger for Fundora’s title by beating previously undefeated Frenchman Bakary Samake in his prior appearance. Hadribeaj upset Samake (19-1, 11 KOs) by unanimous decision May 23.
In the round before Fundora finished the fight in emphatic fashion, Taylor took a second point from a fatigued Hadribeaj for holding with about a minute to go in the 11th.
A body shot by Fundora encouraged Hadribeaj to hold yet again in the final minute of the 10th. Fundora and Hadribeaj hammered away at each other on the inside throughout a competitive ninth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-202VJ2DHY
An energized Hadribeaj unloaded various power punches at the start of the eighth. Both landed punches while fighting on the inside for much of the eighth.
Fundora made Hadribeaj pay by landing more uppercuts in the seventh.
Fundora found a home for uppercuts in the fifth, when he also took fewer punches. He built on his momentum by battering Hadribeaj’s body during the sixth.
A left by Hadribeaj landed less than 30 seconds into the fourth and a right hook more than a minute later. Fundora fought out of the challenger’s clinches and landed punches of his own between taking those two clean connections, but he didn’t tighten his defense enough to dissuade Hadribeaj from taking chances by putting his head down and punching up at the significantly taller fighter.
Taylor took a point from Hadribeaj for holding just after the midway mark of the third round. Hadribeaj held and landed his way toward making the third round competitive, though, and continued catching Fundora with occasional lefts.
A hard left hand by Fundora buzzed Hadribeaj about 25 seconds into the second round. Hadribeaj moved around and tried to hold Fundora as he attempted to recover.
Hadribeaj began fighting back more than a minute later and eventually drilled Fundora with a left that got the champion’s attention several seconds before the second round ended.
Hadribeaj crouched down and landed several left hands during a successful first round for the challenger. Hadribeaj also attacked Fundora’s body during the opening round.
Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing
