Sebastian Fundora faces Chordale Booker in his long-awaited return, headlining a PBC on Amazon Prime event. The undercard pits rising contenders against solid veteran boxers. Elijah Garcia vs. Terrell Gausha and Jesus Ramos Jr. vs. Guido Schramm make sense, considering where both young fighters are at in their career. It should be noted that Guido was a late replacement for the Kevin Salgado.
Fundora heads into this bout being out of the ring just short of a year. The combination of boxing politics and injury kept him on the sidelines for longer than expected. Sebastian shocked the world when he defeated Tim Tszyu in late April of 2024. Fundora was a late fill-in for the often-injured Keith Thurman and pulled the upset off. Chordale Booker is a decent opponent, considering the layoff, but lacks the power to threaten the come-forward style of Fundora fully. That’s not to say Booker won’t have some success in the early part based on Fundora’s face-first approach, leaving caution to the wind.
Given Sebastian’s size and length, he may use that to his benefit by keeping his foes at range. In spots of his career, Fundora has been chosen to box on the outside, but those moments are few and far between. Fundora will have a 10-inch reach advantage over Booker, so let’s see if he keeps the fight in the middle of the ring and uses his jab to establish the offense. If not, we will see Chordale use his jab and counterpunching as Fundora overextends himself offensively.
It’s not that Fundora doesn’t have real skills, he chooses not to use them making it harder than it needs to be. On the other hand, speaking as a fan it sure is fun to watch an oversized boxer at 154 mimic the Tasmanian devil cartoon character. The back-and-forth action, or at least the competitive part of this fight, will turn to Fundora’s favor once his bodywork, power punching, and overpowering fighting style take hold. Look for Sebastian making it a one-sided affair in the second half. From a betting perspective, if you believe Booker will make it all 12 rounds, Fundora can be had for +182 via decision compared to –228 via KO. Not disrespect to Booker, but if Fundora comes through as expected, here’s hoping he gets a big fight later this year.
My Official Prediction is Sebestian Fundora by late TKO.
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Side Note: My Undercard Picks: Garcia UD & Ramos Jr TKO. Also, this weekend from DAZN, George Kambosos Jr is back, and the co-feature will be closer than the oddsmakers have between Skye Nicolson and Tiara Brown. On ProBox a very good test for Lester Martinez versus Joeshon James and 50-50 matchup in Vladimir Hernandez vs. Isaias Lucero as the co-main.
Written by Chris Carlson, Host/Producer of The Rope A Dope Radio Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker, I-Heart Radio, Amazon Podcasts, Google Podcasts & More! Follow on Twitter @RopeADopeRadio
