The WBC junior middleweight champion Fundora called Thurman a future Hall of Famer and suggested that a victory over the former welterweight titleholder would elevate his own standing in the sport.
“He’s a future Hall of Famer. I’m a world champion already, but I think a fight like this could make us a superstar,” said Fundora to Fight Hub TV.
That line of thinking makes sense on the surface. Thurman spent a long time as one of the most prominent names in the sport, and he unified the welterweight titles when he was at his best. His 2017 victory over Danny Garcia was the highlight of that era, coming right after a win over Shawn Porter while he was sitting at the top of the mountain.
The problem is that the Thurman stepping into the ring today is nearly a decade removed from that version.
Long layoffs and only fighting every once in a while have pushed Thurman out of the daily conversation. A whole new generation of fans has never even seen him in his prime, and for the veterans, those days feel like a lifetime ago. Name value eventually starts to dry up when a fighter stays on the sidelines for too long.
That is why thinking a win over Thurman makes you a superstar just doesn’t add up.
Fundora has already notched wins that actually mean more in the ring. He beat Tim Tszyu when Tszyu was an active champion coming in with a ton of momentum at 154 pounds. His earlier stoppage of Erickson Lubin remains one of the division’s most punishing fights in recent years and proved Fundora could survive a brutal contest against a dangerous contender.
Those victories were against guys who are right in the middle of the junior middleweight mix today. Beating Thurman puts a famous name on Fundora’s resume, but it just doesn’t have the same competitive punch as those other wins.
Superstar status in boxing usually comes from defeating the strongest active fighters of a generation, not from beating a respected name whose biggest nights happened years earlier.
The path to the top for Fundora still goes through the guys who are active in the division today. Facing fighters like Vergil Ortiz Jr., Jaron Ennis, Xander Zayas, Israil Madrimov, and Josh Kelly is what actually builds a reputation in this era.
There is still plenty of curiosity around Fundora facing Thurman. It is always interesting to see a champion take on a former star who used to rule a different weight class. But if the goal is to become a true superstar, the real work still involves the fighters who are at the top of the 154-lb division.
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