Chordale Booker (23-2, 11 KOs) put up a good fight briefly before being crushed under the size and work rate of the tall WBC and WBO junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora (22-1-1, 14 KOs) in a fourth-round TKO defeat on Saturday night at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.
In the fourth, Fundora landed a barrage of short punches to put Booker down on the canvas. He beat the count but looked instead on his feet. Fundora immediately went for the kill when the action resumed, backing Booker against the ropes and landing four hard shots.
“I’ve felt ready this whole time since my last fight,” said Fundora. “I’ve worked very hard this past year to be ready. Now, I’ve successfully defended my two titles, and the sky’s the limit. I showed the fans that I’m a powerful fighter. I’ve always been a powerful fighter, and I showed it even more tonight.”
Booker then collapsed against the ropes, causing the referee, Thomas Taylor, to wave it off. If he hadn’t stopped it, Booker would have gone down because he looked like he was one or two punches away from falling. The time of the stoppage was at 2:51 of the fourth.
Booker, 31, appeared bloodied and battered by the third round after being punched around the ring by the 6’5 1/2″ Fundora. He had tried to evade ‘The Towering Inferno’ Fundora by using movement and throwing single shots.
It wasn’t effective by the third round. Sebastian, 26, was cutting off the ring on the challenger Booker and hitting him constantly. The power on Fundora’s shots wasn’t the problem. It was throwing so many punches that the cumulative effect was too much for Chordale.
In round four, Fundora went after Booker all out, moving quickly around the ring to cut off his avenues of retreat and hitting him hard with left hands. Booker’s face was a bloody mess from his nose and his mouth.
It was a good performance from Fundora against what amounted to be a tune-up fight for him, as he’d been out of the ring for an entire year. Booker had no power or size to threaten Fundora.
If Fundora chooses to hold onto his WBO title, he’ll be expected to defend against his mandatory Xander Zayas next. It’s likely that Fundora will vacate his belt because there’s no money in fighting Zayas, who is just a slick fighter who would try and spoil his way to a win.
