Fundora stops Hadribeaj with a second to spare to keep WBC crown
Sebastian Fundora knocked out Ermal Hadribeaj with one second left in the fight to keep his WBC super welterweight title.
The stoppage came at 2:59 of round 12 on Saturday night at the Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. A left hand ended it. Hadribeaj could not beat the count as the final bell approached The Guardian.
It was Fundora’s fourth successful title defence. His record now stands at 25-1-1 with 17 knockouts. Hadribeaj, docked points for holding in the third and 11th rounds, falls to 23-1-1. The defeat was his first as a professional.
Fundora is 28, a 6ft 5in southpaw from Coachella, California, which means he boxes with his right foot forward. He has now won five in a row since a knockout loss to Brian Mendoza in April 2023. He took the WBC and WBO belts, two of the four major world titles at 154lb, from Tim Tszyu in March 2024, then stopped Chordale Booker, Tszyu again and Keith Thurman in succession.
Hadribeaj is a 32-year-old Albanian based in Miami, known as “The Albanian Sniper”. He arrived as the unbeaten mandatory challenger, the contender the WBC orders its champion to face, after beating previously unbeaten Bakary Samake earlier this year. Eight of his 23 wins have come by knockout.
What makes this stand out is the timing. The finish landed right on the final buzzer, and it drew immediate criticism. Terence Crawford said the 12th-round stoppage should not have counted, a view echoed by Tim Bradley Yahoo Sports.
In the co-main event, Armando Resendiz beat Koen Mazoudier by unanimous decision over 10 rounds at super middleweight. That means all three judges agreed. The scores were 98-92, 97-93 and 97-93. Resendiz moves to 17-3. Mazoudier drops to 16-5-1.
Earlier on the card, Marco Romero stopped Matias Ferreira at 1:54 of the first round in a scheduled eight-rounder at super middleweight. Romero stays perfect at 16-0 with 14 knockouts. Ferreira is now 8-4. Jaime Osuna edged Cristian Cangelosi by majority decision over eight rounds at middleweight, where two judges backed Osuna and the third scored it level. Osuna is 12-0. Cangelosi is 13-1-1.
