The six-foot, five-inch Sebastian Fundora, the world’s tallest super welterweight, went down to a shocking knockout defeat at 20-0-1.
Rising contender Brian Mendoza scored a career-defining upset triumph after blasting out the previously unbeaten “Towering Inferno” in round seven.
The result may be the clubhouse leader for Knockout of the Year as Mendoza captured the Interim WBC Super Welterweight Title.
Moendoza’s stunning win was captured live on SHOWTIME Saturday night from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif., headlining a Premier Boxing Champions event.
“I never quit. I kept going. You can beat me all you want, but I’m coming back if you don’t kill me.” said Mendoza post-fight.
“They didn’t kill me in my career. It’s too late now. I’m getting better each time.
“I want to thank Fundora for taking this fight. He didn’t need to take it. It was really risky for where he was at.”
Fundora was gracious enough to discuss his loss after being wiped out and not knowing what hit him.
“I’m good. For one second, I turned off. But I guess that’s boxing. It happens,” he pointed out. “You just get caught with a punch.
“I did some punching. Then I got caught, you know. He was throwing that overhand right all night.
“I was dodging and dodging. But in boxing, you get punished the second you fall asleep.
Mendoza knocks out the world’s tallest super welterweight
“It was a good punch. I didn’t recognize that moment, but I’m fine,” added Fundora. “I’m healthy now, and I’ll be back.
“I’ll be back to take over the division. This is a step up and a step-down. It happens, but I’ll be back.
“I’m not sorry I took this fight. This is boxing. We have to fight. We have to make these good fights.
“Congratulations to Brian Mendoza, he did his thing, but as I said, I’ll be back.”
Having scored back-to-back knockouts to earn this fight, Mendoza, now 22-2, 16 KOs, connected on a picture-perfect left hook early in round seven that badly hurt Fundora.
He followed up with a powerful left-right combo that put Fundora down for good.
OH MY GOD 😳@LaBalaMendoza knockouts Fundora with some CLEAN power shots 💪#FundoraMendoza pic.twitter.com/SjbddGKZgr
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) April 9, 2023
“I saw he was open. So I had to head in for the kill because I knew he wouldn’t stop coming either,” added Mendoza.
“This is my moment. This is my time. I predicted everything that was going to happen in my past two fights and how they were going to end and everything.”
Mendoza, an Albuquerque, New Mexico native who now trains in Las Vegas with coach Ismael Salas, looked to show his boxing ability early and kept his distance from Fundora while peppering body shots.
As the fight progressed, Mendoza looked to try to close the distance and keep Fundora from gaining leverage on his punches. But was met with a consistent stream of uppercuts.
Fundora attack
The Fundora attack caused blood to come from Mendoza’s nose in round five. It appeared the previously unbeaten fighter was on his way to wearing out another opponent with a non-stop onslaught of power punches.
The overall CompuBox stats saw Fundora out-land Mendoza 100 to 62 while leading 60-54 twice and 59-55 on the cards at the stoppage.
Mendoza was emotional following his career-best victory, viewing the win as a culmination of his comeback following setbacks earlier in his career.
“I started losing a couple of rounds, but I didn’t care,” said Mendoza. “You’ll never see me give up. I would’ve given up years ago when I took some losses.
“I kept on sparring, and look at me now. A year ago, I was a swing bout after the main event. Nobody cared who I was or what I was doing. This is proof.
“You keep working, and you’re going to make it!”
