Sebastian Fundora has notified the WBO that he will not enter Friday’s purse bid for a mandatory defence against rising Puerto Rican Xander Zayas, choosing instead to revisit last year’s blood-soaked encounter with Tim Tszyu. The lanky southpaw captured Tszyu’s WBO and WBC belts on 30 March 2024, prevailing by split decision after an accidental elbow opened a vertical cut that bled for ten rounds and compromised the Australian’s vision. A July 19 rematch at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena is now the front-runner, sources on both sides told BoxingScene this week.
Fundora’s withdrawal leaves the WBO strap vacant. Top Rank, which has guided the 22-year-old Zayas to a 21-0 mark, moved quickly: the sanctioning body ordered Zayas to face Mexico’s Jorge Garcia Perez, whose pressure and volume upended previously unbeaten Charles Conwell in Oceanside on 19 April. Perez leapt from fringe contender to No. 2 in the rankings with that split-decision upset, making the matchup both logical and high-risk for a prospect many have yet to see tested at world level.
Financial calculus drove Fundora’s choice. A second pay-per-view with Tszyu promises Australian TV money, a Riyadh-Season site-fee contribution, and a live Vegas gate; a Zayas defence would have gone to purse bid with no guarantee of major-market interest. For Tszyu the bout offers redemption after a fight he insists he was winning before blood blurred his right eye. Fundora can prove the victory was more than a fortunate gash and, if successful, keep leverage for eventual unifications with WBA champion Israil Madrimov or IBF titlist Jack Catterall.
Zayas’ team privately welcome the development: the unbeaten Boricua southpaw now controls his title destiny without navigating Fundora’s height and awkward infighting. Yet Garcia Perez is no soft option; he matched Conwell punch for punch and out-hustled the former U.S. Olympian down the stretch. With purse bids set for Friday, Top Rank is favoured to land promotional rights and stage the fight at Madison Square Garden on Puerto Rican Day Parade weekend in June, giving Zayas a platform once occupied by Miguel Cotto and Félix Trinidad.
Learn more about Fundora here.
Image Credit: The Ring