WBC super welterweight champion Sebastian “The Towering Inferno” Fundora stopped Ermal “The Albanian Sniper” Hadribeaj with one second remaining in the twelfth and final round of an action-packed but often sloppy fight at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Nevada.
Promoters Tom Brown of TGB Promotions and Sampson Lewkowicz of Sampson Boxing presented the card Saturday on DAZN and TNT.
In the main event, southpaw Fundora, 25-1-1 (17 KOs), of Coachella, California, stopped fellow southpaw Hadribeaj, 23-1-1 (8 KOs), of Tirana, Albania, and Miami Beach, Florida, at 2:59 of the final round.
In the second round, Fundora used his considerable height advantage to hurt Hadribeaj early. The challenger fought back and had Fundora in trouble near the end of the round. In the third, referee Thomas Taylor deducted a point from Hadribeaj for excessive holding.
There was nonstop action from the fourth through the tenth as Hadribeaj forced his way inside and Fundora answered with short punches. The challenger made it competitive, although Fundora held an overall edge and increasingly found success with his body attack.
In the eleventh round, Taylor deducted another point from Hadribeaj for holding. Despite his height disadvantage, the challenger continued trying to force the fight at close range.
In the closing seconds of the twelfth, Fundora dropped Hadribeaj with a left hand. Hadribeaj beat the count but was in no condition to continue, prompting Taylor to wave it off with one second remaining.
In the co-main event, former WBA super middleweight champion Armando “Toro” Resendiz, 17-3 (11 KOs), of Guayabitos, Mexico, defeated Koen Mazoudier, 16-5-1 (6 KOs), of Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia, by unanimous decision over ten action-packed rounds.
Resendiz rocked Mazoudier with a right hand to the chin in the final seconds of the fourth round, knocking him off balance. From the sixth through the ninth, Mazoudier pressed the action and fought his way back into the contest, giving the crowd plenty to cheer about while Resendiz continued landing the heavier punches.
In the final minute of the tenth, Resendiz hurt Mazoudier with a flurry of unanswered shots. The Australian survived to hear the final bell.
The scores were 98-92 and 97-93 twice. Harvey Dock was the referee.
In an eight-round super middleweight bout, Jaime Osuna, 12-0 (5 KOs), of Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, Mexico, won a majority decision over Cristian Cangelosi, 13-1-1 (5 KOs), of Palermo, Italy, and Brooklyn, New York.
Osuna suffered a cut over his right eye from a left hook in the third round, which Cangelosi took with his cleaner work.
In the fifth, Osuna rocked Cangelosi early as the fight developed into a slugfest. Cangelosi answered in the seventh, catching Osuna with a right hand to the chin in the closing seconds.
Both had their moments in the eighth and final round, fighting hard with the result still in doubt.
Two judges scored it 77-75 for Osuna, while the third had it even at 76-76. Robert Hoyle was the referee.
Super middleweight Marco “El Tiburon” Romero, 16-0 (14 KOs), of Olathe, Kansas, stopped Matias Ferreira, 8-4 (3 KOs), of Rosario, Uruguay, at 1:54 of the first round of their scheduled eight-round bout.
Ferreira landed a left hook midway through the opening round, but Romero countered with a right hand to the chin that dropped him onto the seat of his trunks. Referee Tony Weeks stopped the contest following the knockdown.
Jimmy Lennon Jr. served as the ring announcer.
The scheduled bout between Brandon Figueroa and Tomoki Kameda was canceled after Figueroa became ill following his weight cut. Figueroa was also stripped of his WBA featherweight title after failing to make the division limit.
