Tim Tszyu vs. Sebastian Fundora highlights stacked weekend

FIGHT WEEK

Rising star Tim Tszyu is scheduled to defend his 154-pound title in opposition to substitute opponent Sebastian Fundora on a busy weekend in boxing.

OSCAR VALDEZ (31-2, 23 KOs)VS. LIAM WILSON (13-2, 7 KOs)

Date: Friday, March 29
Time: 6:05 p.m. ET / 3:05 p.m. PT (essential occasion later in present)
The place: Desert Diamond Enviornment, Glendale, Arizona
TV/Stream: ESPN+
Division: Junior light-weight (130 kilos)
At stake: No main titles
Pound-for-pound: None
Odds: Valdez 3½-1 favourite (common of a number of retailers)
Significance (as much as 5 stars): ***
Additionally on the cardboard: Yokasta Valle vs. Seniesa Estrada, strawweights (for  Valle’s IBF, WBO and Estrada’s WBA, WBC titles); Raymond Muratalla vs. Xolisani Ndongeni, lightweights; Richard Torrez Jr. vs. Don Haynesworth, heavyweights
Background: Valdez is on the comeback path as soon as once more. The previous two-division titleholder from Mexico was outclassed by Shakur Stevenson in a 130-pound title-unification bout in 2022, shedding a one-sided resolution. He bounced again to outpoint Adam Lopez a 12 months later. Nonetheless, he suffered one other wide-decision setback in an entertaining scrap in opposition to beltholder Emanuel Navarrete final August, which additional broken his fame. Wilson, a former title challenger, is a transparent underdog however no pushover. He put Navarrete down and damage him earlier than he was stopped himself in Spherical 9 of a aggressive battle for a vacant 130-pound belt in February of final 12 months. The resident of Queensland outpointed two second-tier opponents for the reason that loss, together with a unanimous, however shut resolution over countryman Jackson Jon England. Additionally on the March 29 card, Yokasta Valle (30-2, 9 KOs) and Seniesa Estrada (25-0, 9 KOs) will combat for the undisputed strawweight championship. They maintain two belts apiece.

TIM TSZYU (24-0, 17 KOs) VS.SEBASTIAN FUNDORA (20-1-1, 13 KOs)

Date: Saturday, March 30
Time: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT (essential occasion later in present)
The place: T-Cellular Enviornment, Las Vegas
TV/Stream: Pay-per-view ($69.99 in U.S.)
Division: Junior middleweight (154 kilos)
At stake: Tszyu’s WBO and vacant WBC titles
Pound-for-pound: None
Odds: Tszyu 4½-1 favourite (common of a number of retailers)
Significance (as much as 5 stars): *****
Additionally on the cardboard: Rolando Romero vs. Isaac Cruz, junior welterweights (for Romero’s title); Erislandy Lara vs. Michael Zerafa, middleweights (for Lara’s WBA title); Elijah Garcia vs. Kyrone Davis, middleweights; Julio Cesar Martinez vs. Angel Cordova, flyweights (for Martinez’s WBC title); Serhii Bohachuk vs. Brian Mendoza, junior middleweights
Background: Tszyu was scheduled to face veteran Keith Thurman however Thurman pulled out of the combat after injuring his biceps lower than two weeks earlier than the opening bell. Fundora, scheduled to combat Bohachuk on the cardboard, agreed to step in and problem Tszyu. The champion has established himself as an elite fighter with a sequence of spectacular performances, together with convincing victories over Terrell Gausha, Tony Harrison, Carlos Ocampo and Brian Mendoza in his final 4 fights. He was anticipated to combat then-undisputed champion Jermell Charlo final 12 months however Charlo ended up difficult 168-pound champ Canelo Alvarez and was stripped of his WBO belt on the opening bell. That allowed Tszyu to be elevated from “interim” beltholder to full champion earlier than the Mendoza combat. Fundora was lucky to get a shot at Tszyu in mild of the actual fact he’s coming off the primary lack of his profession, a seventh-round knockout in opposition to Mendoza in April of final 12 months. The 6-foot-5½ slugger was successful the combat when he was stopped by a brutal three-punch mixture. Fundora had given a sequence of sturdy performances earlier than his setback, together with a ninth-round stoppage of Erickson Lubin in 2022. Additionally on the cardboard, veteran Erislandy Lara (29-3-3, 17 KOs) will defend his 160-pound title in opposition to Michael Zerafa (31-4, 19 KOs). Lara is 40 years previous. And Julio Cesar Martinez (20-3, 15 KOs) will defend his 112-pound belt in opposition to Angel Cordova (18-0-1, 12 KOs).

ARSEN GOULAMIRIAN (27-0, 19 KOs)VS. GILBERTO RAMIREZ (45-1, 30 KOs)

Arsen Goulamirian (proper) might be defending his 200-pound title for the fifth time in opposition to Gilberto Ramirez.  Gerard Julien / AFP through Getty Pictures

Date: Friday, March 29
Time: 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT (essential occasion later in present)
The place: YouTube Theater, Inglewood, California
TV/Stream: DAZN
Division: Cruiserweight (200 kilos)
At stake: Goulamirian’s WBA title
Pound-for-pound: None
Odds: Ramirez 2½-1 favourite (common of a number of retailers)
Significance (as much as 5 stars): ****
Additionally on the cardboard: Alexis Rocha vs. Fredrick Lawson, welterweights; Ricardo Sandoval vs. Luis Hernandez, flyweights; Santiago Dominguez vs. Jose Sanchez, welterweights; Kareem Hackett vs. Rowdy Montgomenry, mild heavyweights
Background: Goulamirian might be defending his 200-pound title for the fifth time however has been unusually inactive over the previous four-plus years, a interval by which the California-based Frenchman has fought solely as soon as. He was out of the ring for 3 years between 2019 and 2022 due to sickness (COVID 19) and different points. He lastly returned in November 2022, when he simply outpointed Aleksei Ergorov in France. The 36-year-old trains with Abel Sanchez in Massive Bear, California. The well-connected Ramirez is getting his second title shot in three fights, having misplaced a one-sided resolution to 175-pound champ Dmitry Bivol in 2022. He bounced again to outclass former beltholder Joe Smith Jr. in his 200-pound debut final October, successful a near-shutout resolution. Ramirez is a former 168-pound titleholder.

YUDAI SHIGEOKA (9-2, 6 KOs)VS. MELVIN JERUSALEM (21-3, 12 KOs)

Date: Sunday, March 31
Time: 5 a.m. ET / 2 a.m. PT (essential occasion later in present)
The place: Worldwide Convention Corridor, Nagoya, Japan
TV/Stream: DAZN
Division: Strawweight (105 kilos)
At stake: Shigeoka’s WBC title
Pound-for-pound: None
Odds: Shigeoka 6-1 favourite (common of a number of retailers)
Significance (as much as 5 stars): ****
Additionally on the cardboard: Ginjiro Shigeoka vs. ArAr Andales, strawweights (for Shigeoka’s IBF title); Lerato Dlamani vs. Tomoki Kameda, featherweights; Riku Kunimoto vs. Eiki Kani, middleweights; Mark Dickinson vs. Anauel Ngamissengue, middleweights; Aaron McKenna vs. Jeovanny Estela, middleweights; Kieron Conway vs. Ainiwaer Yilixiati, middleweights
Background: The Shigeoka brothers – 26-year-old Yudai and 24-year-old Ginjiro – will each be defending their 105-pound titles of their residence nation. Yudai, an offense-minded fighter with energy, obtained off to a sluggish begin in his profession – shedding two of his first three fights – however he’s unbeaten in his subsequent eight. That features his convincing resolution over then-titleholder Panya Pradabsri final October, giving Shigeoka his first main belt. His opponent on Sunday, Jerusalem, misplaced his personal strawweight title to younger star Oscar Collazo final Could, getting stopped in seven rounds. The Filipino rebounded by outpointing journeyman Francis Jay Diaz final October within the Philippines. Ginjiro Shigeoka (10-0, 8 KOs) is also aggressive and has heavy arms. The youthful Shigeoka’s first title shot led to disappointment, when then-champ Daniel Valladares was minimize by an unintentional head butt and the combat was declared a no-contest in January of final 12 months. Nonetheless, two fights later, Shigeoka stopped the Mexican in 5 rounds to develop into a world champion. That combat happened in October. Shigeoka’s opponent on Sunday is ArAr Andales, a light-punching Filipino who’s coming off back-to-back attracts in opposition to Tsubasa Koura and Wilfredo Mendez in 2022 and in October, respectively. Andales (14-2-3, 6 KOs) has three attracts in his final 4 fights.

ALSO FIGHTING THIS WEEK

WEDNESDAY

Joseph Adorno vs. Nicholas Walters, lightweights, Plant Metropolis, Florida (ProBox TV)

THURSDAY

Juan Carrillo vs. Quinton Rankin, mild heavyweights, Detroit (DAZN)

FRIDAY

Elijah Pierce vs. Arthur Villanueva, bantamweights, Atlanta (DAZN)

SATURDAY

Luis Lopez vs. Jesus Resendiz, welterweights, Lengthy Seaside, California (Fubo Sports activities)

SUNDAY

Fabio Wardley vs. Frazer Clarke, heavyweights, London (Peacock)