LAS VEGAS — Sebastian Fundora kept his pursuit of an undisputed super welterweight championship firmly intact on Saturday night, delivering a dramatic finish that beat the final bell with only a single second to spare. The towering champion stopped a resolute Ermal Hadribeaj at 2:59 of the 12th round at the Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, successfully retaining his WBC super welterweight belt in one of the most thrilling conclusions to a championship bout this year.
Fundora, who entered the ring with his sights fixed on unifying all four major titles in the 154-pound division, was pushed to the absolute brink of the distance by a gritty mandatory challenger before closing the show in spectacular fashion. With the clock rapidly winding down and the bout seemingly destined for the judges’ scorecards, Fundora unleashed a sharp, decisive left hand that sent Hadribeaj down and prompted the stoppage just before the final bell could intervene.
The victory marked the fourth consecutive successful defense of the WBC title for Fundora, improving his professional ledger to 25-1-1 with 17 knockouts. In the process, the champion handed Hadribeaj the first defeat of his professional career, dropping the challenger’s record to 23-1-1. While the scorecards would have likely favored the champion following an attritional night that included two separate point deductions against the challenger, the buzzer-beating knockout provided an emphatic exclamation point to an otherwise grueling and untidy tactical battle.
Reflecting on the night’s work inside the ring, Fundora acknowledged the turbulent nature of the contest and the satisfaction of finding an emphatic finish in the dying moments. The champion noted that the fight demanded a return to the grueling phone-booth warfare that has characterized several of his most memorable performances, forcing him to prove once more that his immense frame can thrive in close quarters.
Fundora explained that it was an interesting fight where he had to go back and fight on the inside to show everyone again that he remains fully capable of doing so. While he recognized how dramatic it was to knock his opponent out at the very last second, he remained measured about his overall performance, noting that he and his team will go back to the gym and work on fixing several aspects of his craft.
From the opening bell, the stylistic clash presented a series of unique optical and tactical dynamics. Fundora, the 6-foot-5 southpaw from Coachella, California, famously known as the "Towering Inferno," possessed a monumental height and reach advantage over his Albanian challenger. Hadribeaj, who fights out of Miami, sought to overcome the physical disparity by crouching low to slip beneath Fundora’s extended punches. The challenger attacked the body early, attempting to shorten the distance while firing looping overhand shots over the top of the champion’s guard in hopes of catching Fundora clean.
The tactical battle shifted rapidly in the second round when Fundora began finding his timing. After getting caught by the champion during an exchange, Hadribeaj increasingly turned to survival tactics, tying up Fundora and engaging in excessive holding in an effort to smother the champion’s offense and disrupt his rhythm. The frequent clinching drew immediate scrutiny from the referee.
The challenger’s reliance on wrestling and holding soon proved costly on the official cards. The referee deducted a point from Hadribeaj in the third round for persistent clinching, signaling an early warning that tactical stalling would not be tolerated. Despite the penalty, Hadribeaj continued to tie up Fundora on the inside whenever the champion began to build offensive momentum, prompting the referee to deduct a second point for the same infraction later in the 11th round.
Between the bouts of wrestling, Fundora steadily asserted control through relentless mid-range and inside pressure. Rather than remaining entirely at distance behind a long jab, the champion willingly stepped into the pocket, creating narrow openings to dig heavy uppercuts between Hadribeaj’s high guard. Through the middle rounds, Fundora’s systemic body punching began to slowly deplete the challenger’s stamina and resistance.
The champion revealed afterward that he had recognized early on that his body attack was inflicting significant structural damage on the challenger. Fundora noted that he even informed the referee as early as the fourth round that he was hurting Hadribeaj with his offense, stating that he consistently landed body punches while searching patiently for the single clean, explosive shot that would end the night prematurely.
Fundora focused heavily on Hadribeaj’s midsection, relentlessly driving his power hand into his opponent’s torso. The champion explained that he was hitting Hadribeaj in the rib cage throughout the entire contest with his left hand, and that when he drove punches up the middle, he could audibly hear the physical distress and the noise Hadribeaj made upon impact. Realizing that the challenger was vulnerable, Fundora committed to repeatedly targeting that exact area, confident that the sustained assault would eventually break his opponent down.
The cumulative toll of those body blows, paired with the champion’s inside uppercuts, set the stage for the dramatic final round. Hadribeaj showed remarkable toughness by remaining on his feet into the 12th, but Fundora pressed relentlessly until the final seconds. With just seconds left before the final bell sounded, Fundora created the necessary separation to deliver the crushing left hand that sent Hadribeaj down and concluded the fight at the 2:59 mark.
The victory extends an impressive resurgence for the 28-year-old Fundora, who has now assembled five consecutive victories since suffering a devastating knockout defeat against Brian Mendoza in April 2023. Fundora initially reached the championship summit in March 2024, when he claimed the WBC and WBO super welterweight titles in a bloody, unforgettable battle against Tim Tszyu in Las Vegas. He has since maintained an exceptionally active championship campaign, defending his status by stopping Chordale Booker, defeating Tszyu in their high-stakes rematch, and turning back former unified champion Keith Thurman.
With his latest title defense secured, Fundora reaffirmed his primary objective of becoming the undisputed champion at 154 pounds. Looking ahead, the California southpaw made it clear that he expects to face the division’s other reigning titlists, expressing confidence that his attritional style will wear down any competitor who stands across the ring from him.
Fundora stated boldly that his goal is to achieve undisputed status in the division, emphasizing that he is ready to systematically break down either Jaron Ennis or Josh Kelly. Comparing future matchups to his past victories, the champion asserted that he will approach his next opponents with the exact same grinding mentality, breaking them down piece by piece just as he has done against every challenger before them.
Hadribeaj entered Saturday’s championship clash having earned his mandatory position through an upset victory over the previously unbeaten Bakary Samake earlier this year. Although the Miami-based Albanian displayed tremendous courage throughout the grueling 12 rounds, the punishing pace and relentless body work of the champion ultimately brought an end to his own unbeaten professional run.
The action on the Las Vegas undercard delivered high drama across multiple weight classes, highlighted by a spirited co-main event at super middleweight. Armando Resendiz improved his record to 17-3 by grinding out a hard-earned unanimous decision over Australia’s Koen Mazoudier across 10 competitive rounds. The judges favored Resendiz with scores of 98-92, 97-93, and 97-93.
Resendiz established an early advantage by landing punishing left hands through the middle stages of the bout, testing the chin of Mazoudier. The Australian, who fell to 16-5-1, refused to back down, mounting a gritty late-round rally as the two men traded heavy blows in close quarters. Resendiz, however, managed to seize control when it mattered most, finishing with a flurry in the final minute that sent Mazoudier stumbling backward and sealed the victory on the scorecards.
Following the decision, Resendiz credited his conditioning and adaptability for seeing him through the difficult exchanges. Resendiz noted that his team was able to pull off the victory due to excellent preparation, acknowledging that the grueling contest was precisely what he had anticipated. He added that the toughness of the bout forced him to alter his game plan during the fight, relying more on boxing and movement to outmaneuver an opponent who refused to yield.
Earlier in the evening, super middleweight prospect Marco Romero showcased explosive finishing power by halting Matias Ferreira in the opening round of their scheduled eight-round bout. Romero, who improved his unblemished record to 16-0 with 14 knockouts, landed a crushing right hand that stopped Ferreira at the 1:54 mark. Following the brief encounter, Romero dismissed the veteran experience of his opponent, stating plainly that Ferreira was simply too slow and that neither his speed nor his ring experience proved to be a factor against his power.
In preliminary middleweight action, Jaime Osuna protected his perfect professional record by securing a hard-fought majority decision over Cristian Cangelosi in an eight-round contest. Osuna advanced to 12-0 by outworking Cangelosi, who dropped to 13-1-1 after suffering the first defeat of his career. Reflecting on the demanding nature of the back-and-forth bout, Osuna admitted that the victory was an exhausting physical test that required every ounce of energy and determination he possessed from the opening bell to the final bell.
