To a certain extent,
Sebastian Fundora nudged
Tim Tszyu's career in the wrong direction.
When the two initially got it on last year, Tszyu was the man at 154 pounds. But, after losing a close decision to Fundora, Bakhram Murtazaliev brutally knocked him out. The 30-year-old Australian needed to embrace a rebuild back to world title contention.
Stage 1 of getting back on his feet was successful thanks to his
fourth-round win over Joey Spencer on April 5. Now, with a bit of momentum behind him, he's on the verge of running things back against Fundora.
If the deal gets finalized for a proposed July 19 date, the former 154-pound titleholder will be confident in the rematch.
Serhii Bohachuk, however, believes things will only get worse.
“Fundora’s gonna knock him out,” Bohachuk told Red Gloves News. “This time he’s gonna knock him out.”
Bohachuk (26-2, 24 KOs) doesn’t have a dog in the race. He’s ranked No. 1 in the WBC and knows that his time in the spotlight is coming.
Ultimately, no matter who wins, Bohachuk essentially has next. Although he could have sat back and played the waiting game, the 30-year-old decided to put his ranking on the line against American southpaw Mykal Fox (24-5, 5 KOs) recently.
This past weekend, Bohachuk found little to no issues dealing with Fox’s unusual height,
beating him by clear and somewhat wide unanimous decision over 10 rounds.
Jeopardizing his top spot again wouldn't make much sense for Bohachuk at this stage. Instead, he'll use this time to relax and heal. While doing so, the Ukrainian intends to keep a close eye not only on Fundora but also every other top dog at 154 pounds. If the Fundora-Tszyu winner doesn't give him the call, he'll look to swap fists with someone else.
“Of course I want it,” Bohachuk said. “I want to fight the best.”