SEBASTIAN Fundora’s WBC super-welterweight title defence against Keith Thurman on October 25 is off after Fundora suffered a hand injury in training. While initial reports suggested that the supporting contest between O’Shaquie Foster and Stephen Fulton would carry the event, it is now apparent that this fight will be moved to a separate date, as ESPN confirmed.
With the entire event now canned, Fundora’s chief handler, Sampson Lewkowicz, further informed the powerful US outlet that Fundora will return in early 2026. Whether Thurman, a man with his own chequered injury history, is in the opposite corner remains to be seen.
Had Fundora made it to the ring, it would’ve been his third title defence after defeating Chordale Booker in March and ending his rivalry with Tim Tszyu in spectacular fashion in July. The Aussie was smashed away in seven rounds, cementing Fundora’s position as the leading 154-pound champion.
Thurman, meanwhile, returned in March from a long hiatus to defeat Australia’s Brock Jarvis in three rough-and-tumble Sydney sessions. Thurman’s failing frame and veteran status mean this fight might never take place. The PBC needed a premium show to revive its own flagging status. The pressure is now on to come up with something else.
