WBC junior middleweight king Sebastian Fundora and former unified welterweight champ Keith Thurman are ready to go for their Saturday night Vegas PPV main event and did plenty of talking Thursday afternoon.
Coming up Saturday night in Las Vegas WBC junior middleweight champ Sebastian Fundora and former unified welterweight champion Keith Thurman will headline the "PBC on Prime PPV."
And Thursday afternoon the two met with the media for the final time.
The Californian Fundora, (23-1-1, 15 KOs), will be making the latest defense of his title off an impressive TKO win (for a second victory) over Aussie Tim Tszyu last July.
And, he didn't lack for confidence saying,
“Expect ‘The Towering Inferno’ to burn Las Vegas down once again. I definitely don’t see this going 12 rounds, but no matter how long it goes, it ends with me having my hand raised.
“Thurman is a good talker. He likes to talk. That’s how he is. He’s a great champion as well, but Saturday night I’m planning to crash his party."
The 6'6" champion continued by acknowledging that Thurman, as strong as any opponent he's faced,
“I think I’ve just been growing up and becoming more mature with every fight. I’m getting a harder task every fight, so I’ve been learning on the job.
"Thurman is one of my best opponents for sure. But I have to look at it like just another fight. I have to look at it as my job. This is work for me, and I just have to clock in on Saturday.
As for Thurman, he's been largely inactive over the last six years, fighting only twice. However, he boasts a 31-1, 23 KOs record with wins over the likes of Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter in world welterweight title battles in the 2010s.
And, like Fundora mentioned, Thurman will talk and talk, some more, including,
“It’s been a beautiful build up to this fight. It’s been a long time coming. I’m facing a great champion and we’re gonna make it happen.
“I’m here to hurt this boy. I’m trying to send him home belt-less. Fundora gets hit. He’s used to trading and going at it. But I’m here to put that fire out."
Thurman, who last fought in Australia in March of last year scoring a TKO over home country fighter Brock Jarvis continued Thursday,
“I’ve been doing this for a long time. Come March 28 you’re gonna see why I’ve been able to do this as long as I have.
“I’ve been favorited in the majority of all of my fights, but at the end of the day, being the hunter is a lot of fun. I’m on the prowl. There’s nothing like becoming world champion by taking it from the previous world champion, especially a highly-qualified world champion like Fundora.
“You’re gonna see 30 years of greatness on Saturday. Blood, sweat, tears, sacrifice. It’s gonna be poetry in motion.
“I’m here to make history. This is history in the making come March 28.”
On the undercard, the co-feature will have young Cuban contender Yoenis Tellez battle former WBC 154 lb. champ Brian Mendoza in a 12 round bout. Plus, highly middleweight Yoenli Hernandez and former U.S. Olympian Terrell Gausha meet in a 10-round matchup.