Brian “La Bala” Mendoza has continued his knockout winning streak with his latest victory over the young and talented Sebastian Fundora on April 8th at the Dignity Sports Park Health Center in Carson, California. With Fundora’s interim WBC Super Welterweight title on the line, Mendoza fought through a difficult encounter with Fundora to win the interim title and become next in line to face the current holder of the full WBC title, Jermell Charlo, sometime in the future.
With Sebastian Fundora (20-1-1, 13 KO’s) tipped to win, the resulting knockout he suffered greatly exceeded the expectations that Fundora would steamroll over his opponent. With Brian Mendoza (22-2, 16 KO’s) already having suffered two losses prior to facing the previously undefeated Sebastian Fundora, Fundora’s height of six foot and six inches even more sparked the belief that it would be Fundora to hold up his hand at the end.
However, their bout painted a different story. Despite the height disparity and Sebastian Fundora’s unbeaten status, he was unable to overcome the sheer will and effectiveness of Brian Mendoza’s gameplan who was limited to fighting on the inside due to Fundora’s reach. Sebastian Fundora’s own willingness to engage in the inside, though risky had paid off in his last fight with Erickson Lubin (24-2, 17 KO’s) ― a fight in which Fundora was dropped prior to stopping Lubin.
The same approach did not work out for Fundora in this case. Though clearly willing to engage with his opponent, Fundora struggled throughout the rounds to make as much of an impact as Mendoza who is known to pack a lot of power in his punches and prefers engaging directly with his opponent. Mendoza was the more successful fighter throughout the rounds and round seven resulted in Fundora being dropped by a devastating left hook from the orthodox-stanced Brian Mendoza.
After failing to beat the count, Brian Mendoza was announced the winner by knockout ― according to California State Athletic Commission rules ― and grabbed home the interim version WBC Super Welterweight world title that had belonged to Sebastian Fundora.
Fundora also suffered the first loss of his career as a result, and will likely be going back into rebuild mode given his relatively young age of 25 which will still give him plenty of opportunities to fight for world titles in the not so distant future.
Brian Mendoza has capitalized his efforts throughout his career with a momentous victory over a gifted fighter, and won himself an opportunity to face the WBC champion ― currently still the division’s undisputed champion, Jermell Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KO’s) ― at some point. Since losing twice in just 3 fights from 2019 to 2021, Mendoza went on a comfortable stoppage/knockout run starting in 2022 and, after his last victory, he has now recorded three KO victories in a row.
The fight card also saw a number of other interesting bouts take place. Gabriela Fundora (11-0, 4 KO’s), the younger sister of Sebastian Fundora, grabbed an important victory against former world title challenger Maria Micheo Santizo (11-3, 6 KO’s).
Elsewhere, American prospect Brandun Lee (28-0, 23 KO’s) continued his undefeated winning run with a UD victory over Pedro Campa (34-3-1, 23 KO’s) in the co-main event of the evening, while former amateur veteran, Venezuelan contender Gabriel Maestre (5-0-1, 4 KO’s), netted an upset stoppage victory over the vastly more experienced American former Super Welterweight world champion, Devon Alexander (27-8-1, 14 KO’s).
