“He wants to come in there and break my face and take my title and embarrass me that night in front of all my fans, in front of all my family,” Fundora said. “Why can’t I do the same thing?”
The champion then turned directly to Thurman’s public image and the way the former unified welterweight champion promotes his fights.
“He’s a salesman. He’s trying to sell the fight, which is good. That’s what he’s known for, that’s why they bring him out over and over again,” Fundora said of Thurman. “The way I talk is in the ring with my hands. I’ll show you in the ring why I’m champion.”
Fundora built his reputation at junior middleweight through activity and physical pressure. The 6-foot-6 southpaw brings uncommon size to the division and rarely hesitates to commit in shortstop despite his reach advantage. That approach made him a difficult opponent for many fighters at 154 pounds.
Thurman has always approached big fights with visible confidence. The former unified welterweight champion competed for years at the highest level at 147 pounds and became known for daring interviews before big fights. That confidence was still present when he spoke to Fundora about the match.
“One could look back and say you were the unified welterweight champion, you packed out the MGM Grand,” Thurman said. “Yes, they can still throw me into the Hall of Fame as it is, but something in my heart, something in my gut, something in my soul says the story is not over.”
Thurman also put aside the height advantage Fundora usually has in the ring.
“Doesn’t matter if he’s 6’6″, 6’7. He can’t stop me,” Thurman said. “Fundora doesn’t know what’s going to hit him. He doesn’t know what the hell he just did.”
Fundora holds the WBC junior middleweight title. Thurman enters the fight having spent most of his career at welterweight and now moves to a division that naturally brings bigger opponents.
The fight is scheduled for March 28 on a Premier Boxing Champions card. Fundora says the answer will come in the ring, while Thurman maintains his career still has more chapters left.
