WBC welterweight world champion Sebastian Fundora made his fourth successful title defense after triumphing with a technical knockout at the very end of the 12th round against Albania's Ermal Hadribeaj. The bout took place at the "Premier Boxing Champions" gala at "The Chelsea" hall in Las Vegas.
Although Fundora was leading convincingly on the judges' cards before the final round, he continued to look for the decisive blow. The decision came at exactly 2:59 of the 12th round, when a left hook sent Hadribeaj to the floor, and referee Thomas Taylor immediately stopped the fight.
Hadribeaj, who entered the fight with a perfect undefeated record, entered the fight with courage and brought the crowd to their feet with a strong performance in the second round, closing the gap on the towering Fundora. As the fight progressed, however, his fatigue became apparent. Fundora landed numerous left uppercuts and combinations to the body, and his challenger was deducted points in the third and eleventh rounds for excessive clinch entry.
With this triumph, the 28-year-old Fundora improved his personal record to 25 wins, 1 loss and 1 draw (17 by knockout). For the 33-year-old Hadribeai, this was the first defeat in his professional career, as his assets already include 23 wins, 1 loss and 1 draw.
After the end of the fight, the American did not hide his satisfaction with the dramatic victory in the last seconds:
"I liked how we knocked him out in the last second, it was dramatic. When I saw that he almost fell from the left overhand, I said to myself: 'Let him throw it again'."
Regarding his future in the division, Fundora added:
"We have already made a fourth defense. Let's go for an undisputed champion. We will break them, like we did with this guy, the previous one and the ones before them."