PBC’s first PPV event with Amazon Prime helped herald in a new champion in the super welterweight division as American fighter Sebastian Fundora came away with a split-decision win over Australian former WBO champion Tim Tszyu. The two main-evented at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on March 30th on a card that saw a number of surprise or upset results occur on the night.

The super welterweight/junior middleweight title match between then-WBO champion Tim Tszyu (24-1, 17 KO’s) and Sebastian Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KO’s), which also included the vacant WBC title, was undoubtedly set to be a better match than the previously announced main event between Tszyu and Keith Thurman (30-1, 22 KO’s)―with the latter not having fought for two years.

The rather late withdrawal of Thurman from his slated bout with Tszyu following an injury brought both an upside and a downside to the bout as Tszyu’s WBO title and the vacant WBC title became available as the two sanctioning bodies sanctioned the Tszyu-Fundora bout, making for a much more pivotal match in the 154 lbs division. However, it would leave both fighters unprepared for each other, leaving the bout to an uncertain outcome.

That outcome eventually resulted in Sebastian Fundora winning, though the fight left plenty of grounds for a rematch to occur as Tszyu suffered a cut that should have resulted in the match being called off before the completion of the fourth round―as the judges’ scorecards only come into play after four rounds have passed. Had the match been called off during or prior to the end of the fourth, the bout would be deemed a no-contest. After the fourth―and starting the fifth round, the scorecards can be officially used to determine the result of a contest in case of an accidental cut or something similar.

So was that in the case of Tim Tszyu, who seemingly won the first two rounds quite dominantly before an accidental elbow from Sebastian Fundora resulted in a nasty cut for the Australian during the second round, completely overturning a match that had been going Tszyu’s way.

In a matchup where Sebastian Fundora boasted an imposing height of almost 6’6″ and a significant reach advantage of nearly ten inches over Tszyu―who stands at 5’9″ with an approximate reach of 70 inches, the scales tipped decidedly in Fundora’s favor following Tszyu’s wound. Fundora effectively utilized his physical attributes to their fullest extent, employing his reach and height advantage to outmaneuver Tszyu and secure a hard-fought split-decision (SD) victory.

The most peculiar and resounding issue that Tszyu faced throughout the match was the cut that his corner was unable to mend, resulting in the blood from his wound spilling out every round which likely heavily impaired his vision. Though Tim Tszyu fought on despite this clear disadvantage, he was unable to make any significant impact as Sebastian Fundora boxed well at range to grab his first world titles on the big stage―winning with scorecards of 112-116, 115-113, and 116-112.

While there had been moments for the willful and determined Tszyu, the failure of his corner to properly close the cut made it an almost impossible feat for him to win, resulting in the Australian missing too many shots and taking too many to convince the judges of a win.

Following the twelve rounds, Fundora’s announcement as the winner by SD was deserved, but the close competitive nature of the match and the stroke of fortune that resulted in Tszyu’s cut gave plenty of reasons for a rematch to occur―though this rematch is dependent on various factors, including the expected announcement of Terence Crawford (40-0, 31 KO’s) becoming the WBO mandatory at 154 lbs.

As of now, Sebastian Fundora holds the WBC and WBO super welterweight titles, but the course to be taken does not pinpoint directly towards him having a match with Crawford as Errol Spence Jr (28-1, 22 KO’s) has mysteriously emerged after months of flying under the radar to suddenly become a viable next opponent for Sebastian Fundora; made even more likely after Spence appeared in the ring following Fundora’s victory over Tim Tszyu.

With a new champion emerging in the super welterweight division, the co-main event, featuring a super lightweight/junior welterweight title bout between American WBA champion Rolando “Rolly” Romero (15-2, 13 KO’s) and Mexican former lightweight contender Isaac Cruz (26-2-1, 18 KO’s).

Though Cruz had never fought at 140 lbs prior, and had not been ranked in any of the sanctioning bodies’ super lightweight rankings, the WBA nonetheless allowed Romero to defend his title against Cruz―which turned out to be one of the worst career decisions Romero made as he suffered a devastating technical knockout (TKO) loss to Cruz during their match.

Throughout the match, it was Isaac Cruz that dominated, despite being the smaller fighter in both size and accomplishments, winning most of the rounds as he effectively closed the distance to pressure Romero endlessly. A knockdown that Romero suffered in the eighth round virtually sealed Cruz’ victory who had already been storming to a near one-sided win as he overwhelmed the American, and the eight round sealed the deal for Cruz whose flurry of effective and hard punches forced the referee to step in. As a result, Cruz was announced the winner by stoppage in the eight round, culminating in him winning his first-ever world title.

Rolando Romero’s loss is significant for many reasons and largely a fault of himself as Romero had openly sought a fight with Isaac Cruz, even though a bout with Ryan Garcia (24-1, 20 KO’s) was available for him to take at any time. Moreover, the WBA’s inability to order Romero to fight WBA interim 140 lbs champion Ismael Barroso (25-4-2, 23 KO’s)―in what would be a rematch of their controversial 2023 fight―gave Romero leeway to pick his next opponent in Cruz, who despite having fought his entire career as a lightweight proved to be too much to handle.

Isaac Cruz, now holder of the WBA super lightweight title, is now expected to face interim champion Barroso once the WBA expectantly orders the fight. As Barroso had beaten British contender Ohara Davies (25-3, 18 KO’s) on January 6th to become the interim champion, it was expected that Romero and Barroso would be ordered to face each other―especially considering the very condition of Romero being reinstated as full champion after having become a champion-in-recess should have seen him defend his title against either the interim champion or a mandatory challenger.

The WBA is therefore expected to order Cruz-Barroso in the near future to draw a resolution to the interim title that they had made available when Barroso and Davies battled over it earlier this year.

On the undercard, several title matches also occurred with most notably Mexican WBC champion Julio Cesar Martinez (21-3, 15 KO’s) retaining his title after fending off flyweight title after fending off previously unbeaten American contender Angelino Cordova (18-1-1 12 KO’s). With his voluntary defense completed, Martinez will presumably wait to face whoever Costa Rican fighter David Jimenez (15-1, 11 KO’s) fights next to become the mandatory challenger to Martinez’ WBC title―as decided by the WBC during their previous convention.

Former WBC 154 lbs interim champion Brian Mendoza (22-4, 16 KO’s) again fought for the interim title against Ukrainian contender Serhii Bohachuk (24-1, 23 KO’s)―who had been set to be Sebastian Fundora’s opponent before Keith Thurman pulled out of this event and Fundora was moved to become Tim Tszyu’s opponent.

It was Bohachuk who came out the winner by unanimous decision (UD), breaking his KO streak in the process as he came through in a match he mostly dominated against the tough Mendoza. It should be noted that Mendoza was a late replacement to the match, and thus had not enough time to properly prepare. Nonetheless, Mendoza impressed despite incurring his second loss in a row―with his loss coming against Tszyu, managing to prevent Bohachuk from continuing his KO streak by enduring the entirety of the twelve rounds until the Ukrainian won by decision.

It is unknown if the original planned match between Fundora and Bohachuk may continue now that both fighters hold WBC titles, as Fundora appears to be drawn between fighting either Errol Spence Jr for an easy and seemingly lucrative voluntary title defense, Terence Crawford who is expected to become the WBO mandatory, and Tim Tszyu who is deserving of a rematch. Given the three options before Fundora, Bohachuk would only be a viable option if the WBC ordered the two to fight.

The middleweight title bout between defending WBA Cuban-American champion Erislandy Lara (30-3-3, 18 KO’s) and Australian challenger Michael Zerafa (31-5, 19 KO’s) was a hard blow to the latter as he suffered a disappointing second-round KO loss to Lara. Despite Zerafa having claimed to have his career stalled by Lara and the management/promotional outfit of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC), the Australian was unable to translate his animosity and personal grudge into a win.

Erislandy Lara now remains the WBA champion after finally facing a mandatory challenger in Zerafa. With his mandated bout completed, it is currently unknown what the 40-year old will do at this point, and retirement may lurk given the Cuban-American had taken the whole year of 2023 off for no valid distinguishable reasons.

While a fight with former welterweight champion Danny “Swift” Garcia (37-3, 21 KO’s) might be on the cards between him and Erislandy Lara, Lara’s absence during 2023 without explanation―and the fact they had been supposed to fight that same year―suggests anything can happen in regards to Lara, and there is as much chance as a retirement announcement from his part, as is the announcement of a fight against whatever opponent will earn him a nice payday.