What was an entertaining night of bouts at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, was capped off by a bloody affair (literally, it was) between Tim Tszyu and Sebastian Fundora. The 6'6 'Towering Inferno' showed that he was no garden variety late replacement, while Tszyu may have been too brave for his own good.
After an effective first two rounds, things changed dramatically after Tsyzu suffered a freak cut high on top of his forehead as he ran into the elbow of Fundora at the end of the second stanza.
In the first six minutes of this bout, he looked to be in tactical control of things, despite giving up about eight inches in height. Tszyu was able to pierce Fundora's guard with a few right hands as he was able to get into punching range rather comfortably . Things were going as planned early on -- till the cut.
Esther Lin/PBC
At that point, the momentum swung as Fundora, who had to fight with a broken and bloody nose, settled in and started to consistently jab and keep a partially blinded Tszyu at bay. The trajectory of the fight was undeniably impacted by that injury.
But a question has to be asked: was Tszyu and his team just better off pulling the plug right then and there after the second round, or certainly before the end of the fourth (when this bout then becomes official)? Just take the technical draw/no-decision, and keep your WBO title, and get out of there.
To do, or not to do (in terms of stopping the fight), that is the question.
We've seen it before, I remember being at Mikey Garcia-Orlando Salido where Garcia and his corner called off the contest after a clash of heads broke his nose from an accidental clash of heads. They had built up a significant lead on the cards, and for them, there was no need to take any more risks.
Esther Lin/PBC
On the flip side, I was there when Tyson Fury suffered a pretty significant cut early on versus Otto Wallin, but Fury was actually struggling and with a highly lucrative rematch with Deontay Wilder looming in a few months, there was no way the commission in Nevada, or Fury's brain trust would stop that bout.
Oftentimes circumstances, promotional politics and business interests will dictate the decisions that are made in these situations. First and foremost, boxing is a business. Don't ever forget that. And these things are oftentimes decided with no consideration for the fans, or the fighters themselves. It's about protecting your assets, and what you came into the ring with.
But then again, hindsight is 20/20, the problem was Tsyzu's vision after round two was far from that.
Esther Lin/PBC
The problem with Tszyu's decision is that as brave and courageous as it may have been, it was also naive and reckless according to the doctrines of the boxing business. While he should be lauded for fighting on, and gallantly trying to win this fight with his crimson mask, Tszyu is now being second-guessed for acting like a real fighter.
And with that, Fundora is now the unified (WBC and WBO belts were on the line on Saturday night), and this is where the machinations begin. If there was any true justice in this racket, there would be an immediate rematch between Tszyu and Fundora. But this is where things get interesting. While coming into this weekend it was clear that the WBO would order Terence Crawford to become Tsyzu's mandatory (or whoever had their belt at 154), having the WBC strap gives Fundora a back-up plan.
Esther Lin/PBC
Afterwards, a puffy looking Errol Spence -- remember him? -- came into the ring, and by all indications it looks like a Fundora-Spence fight will be forthcoming. While Fundora is saying all the right things about wanting to face 'Bud', the reality is that he has no say in the matter. Most boxers aren't chess masters who make their own moves, but pawns on the board. Moved around at the whims of the power brokers in the sport.
https://twitter.com/AccordToBoxing/status/1774316107953995846
There is a very good chance that Fundora will vacate the WBO, which will leave Crawford (who is currently promoter-less in Omaha) to fight for a vacant title. While the fighter he thrashed last summer, will fight Fundora in a Prime Video pay-per-view offering.
Tszyu tried to do the honorable thing. The problem is, there isn't a lot of honor in boxing.
PIT BULL
One of the featured bouts on this card was the match-up between Rollie Romero and Isaac Cruz for Ismael Barroso's WBA 140-pound title. And we don't want to be crass here, but the 'Pit Bull' beat the dog crap out of Romero from the very beginning of this contest.
Rolly vs Pitbull HIGHLIGHTS: March 30, 2024 | PBC on Prime
Romero was hurt and wobbled in the first round, and really at that point, was in a bit of survival mode. While in the past he has displayed heavy hands, against Cruz he never really made the commitment to punch off his front foot. He was already lacking in fundamentals in skill, now, stripped away of his power, he was exposed for what he was by Cruz -- a very limited guy who was lucky to have been engineered into a title belt in a watered down era of boxing.
Esther Lin/PBC
Say what you want about Cruz, he may not be a great, or elite, fighter, but he is a real solid and authentic professional. There's a seriousness to him as a professional prizefighter.
But this result got me thinking, since boxing is a business, did Romero get as much to face Cruz, as he was offered to face Ryan Garcia? There is an old adage in the boxing business, if you're going to lose(or take a beating) do it for the most amount of money, possible.
So much for being an ''Amazon superstar''.
CHUK'N LEATHER
Another solid scrap on this card was the battle between Serhii Bohachuk and Brian Mendoza. Bohachuk just swarmed Mendoza over 12 rounds, and won by the scores of 118-110 and 117-111 (twice). It was a good fight, even it if was one-sided. Mendoza showed a ton of grit by hanging there for the full distance. There is no questioning his guts.
Esther Lin/PBC
Bohachuk is now the WBC interim champion at junior middleweight. At what point will he get a crack at the green belt?
FINAL FLURRIES
Erislandy Lara blew out Michael Zerafa in two rounds in defense of his WBA middleweight title...Julio Cesar Martinez successfully defended his WBC flyweight crown by eking out a close majority decision over Angelino Cordova...I watched this card on PPV.com, and I was impressed by their service... Yes, I went to the Top Rank (Friday) and Golden Boy(Saturday) cards, I will have something to say on them in my upcoming column....I can be reached at k9kim@yahoo.com....
