Sebastian Fundora Retains his WBC Junior Middleweight Title in Las Vegas, with a KO in the 12th Round

Ermal Hadribeaj did Albania proud by giving everything in his attempt to relieve Fundora of his WBC title. After being wobbled at the start of the contest, he took the fight to the freakishly tall Fundora, and for the first few rounds, was giving as good as he got. The southpaw frequently found the target with fast looping punches that had Fundora looking shaky at times.

Hadribeaj knew he had to get close to Fundora, but ironically, it was the American's eventual willingness to give up his height advantage and oblige him at close quarters that proved to be the challenger's undoing.

At over 6'5 inches tall, with a wingspan to match, one would expect Sebastian to favour long-range boxing. But he is surprisingly good at in-fighting, bending down to whip in accurate hooks and uppercuts. 

The Albanian needed to target Fundora's elongated body, to sap his strength and lower his guard, but he made the mistake of restricting his attacks to the head. Fundora meanwhile, delivered body shots throughout the fight, that laid the groundwork for the final round knockout.

Fundora uses his physical advantages to get tremendous leverage into his punches, and it was clear that he carried the edge in power. Fundora's conditioning is also impressive. He was able to match Hadribeaj's furious workrate in the early rounds and then outwork him down the stretch.

It was Hadribeaj who was looking to take breathers in the second half of the fight. He would back off to what he thought was a safe distance, only to find he was still in range of Fundora's long arms. There was to be no respite for him.

Jolting uppercuts brought a flow of blood from Ermal's mouth, which had been hanging open for some time as he gasped for air. He still landed the occasional good shot, but the momentum had swung clearly in Fundora's favour.

Hadribeaj was clinging on, and appeared to have survived to the end, but a left hook after the 10-second buzzer sounded, sent him sprawling on his back. He was counted out with just one second to go.

Fundora's impressive win sets up a blockbuster unification fight with the WBA and WBO  champion, Jaron "Boots" Ennis, possibly before the end of the year. 

Fundora is on a great run of form since his lone defeat against Brian Mendoza in 2023. He is probably close to his peak. But he still takes too many punches as he seeks to land his own.

The undefeated Ennis would be the favourite, but whichever way it goes, the fans are guaranteed to get an absolute thriller.