WBC and WBO junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora (22-1-1, 14 KOs) used his tall 6’5 1/2″ frame and high work rate to chop down challenger Chordale Booker (23-2, 11 KOs) in an easy fourth-round technical knockout on Saturday night in their headliner at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.
Booker’s nose bleeding badly by the third round, and he appeared to have blood coming from his mouth. He was getting hit way too much by Fundora in rounds three and four. Booker did land some big shots in each of the rounds, but there wasn’t enough of them. He was too busy moving, trying to survive for him to muster up any real offense.
The fight resembled a slaughter because Chordale lacked the power and size to be competitive against Fundora. To have any chance of winning, Booker would have needed major power of some of the big hitters in the 154-lb division, but he was lacking. That’s obviously why he was chosen as Fundora’s opponent. If he could punch, he’d have been skipped over like other fighters in the division, like Bakhram Murtazaliev.
Booker was on the run the entire fight, trying to keep away from being chewed up by the champion, Fundora. He landed some nice shots in the first two rounds, but by the third, Booker was getting worked over by the champion. Booker’s nose and mouth were bleeding from shots that he’d taken in round three.
In the fourth, Fundora landed some left hands that had Booker looking in distress. ‘The Towering Inferno’ Fundora then trapped him against the ropes and pushed him to the canvas after nailing him with a hard shot. Looking badly hurt, Booker made it up and was looked closely at by the referee, Thomas Taylor, before he could continue. Fundora went after his hurt opponent and nailed him with repeated shots, causing Booker to fall against the ropes.
The referee, Taylor, swooped and stopped the contest just in time to prevent a second knockdown. The time of the stoppage was at 2:51 of the round.
Last Updated on 03/22/2025
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