Sebastian Fundora emerged victorious on March 22 when he faced Chordale Booker at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas. Making his first ring appearance in a year, the unified super welterweight champion claimed the win by TKO, scoring a knockdown along the way.
After going down for the second time in his career, Booker managed to get back on his feet and beat the eight-count. As soon as the fight resumed, Fundora was right back at him, connecting with more punches, which forced referee Thomas Taylor to step in and call it a day. The official time was 2:51 of the fourth round.
With the victory, Sebastian Fundora of West Palm Beach, FL made the first successful defense of his unified WBC and WBO 154-pound belts. The 27-year-old, Coachella, CA-based southpaw improved his record to 22-1-1 with 14 KOs.
Post-fight, Fundora said he is looking to land the undisputed title. The unified champion expressed his desire to face current IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs), WBO mandatory contender Xander Zayas (21-0, 13 KOs) of Puerto Rico, and former champion Errol Spence Jr. (28-1, 22 KOs) of Long Island, New York.
The 33-year-old southpaw Chordale Booker of Stamford, CT dropped to 23-2 with 11 KOs. The defeat snapped his six-fight winning streak.
In Fundora vs Booker undercard action
In the co-feature, Jesus Ramos Jr. (23-1, 19 KOs) of Casa Grande, AZ dominated and stopped short-notice opponent Guido Emmanuel Schramm (16-4-2, 9 KOs) of Argentina, also at super welterweight. The official time was 1:38 into the seventh round.
In the telecast opener, Elijah Garcia (17-1, 13 KOs) of Glendale, AZ defeated Terrell Gausha (24-5-1, 12 KOs) of Cleveland, OH by split decision. After 10 rounds at middleweight, two judges scored the fight 95-94 and 96-93 in favor of Garcia, while one judge scored it 95-94 for Gausha. On his way to victory, Garcia went down in the first round from a right hand.
Among other Fundora vs Booker results, Las Vegas native Freudis Rojas (15-0, 11 KOs) scored a unanimous decision against Maurice Lee (15-2-2, 6 KOs) of Covina, CA. After eight rounds at welterweight, the scores were 79-73, 80-72, and 80-72.
Robert Guerrero (6-0, 3 KOs) of San Jose, CA stopped Sean Armas (6-2, 3 KOs) of Pomona, CA at lightweight. The time was 1 minute into the second round.
Plus, Alberto Mora Garcia (13-0, 9 KOs) of Mexico earned a unanimous decision against Ukraine’s Viktor Slavinskyi (15-4-1, 7 KOs) in an eight-rounder at super featherweight. The scores were 80-72, 80-72, and 77-75.
Brayan Gonzalez (2-0, 1 KO) of Phoenix, AZ TKO’d Justin Marquez (5-2, 4 KOs) of Visalia, CA at super bantamweight. The stoppage came at 1:57 of the fourth round.