Sebastian Fundora respects
Claressa Shields and everything she has accomplished.
And, yes, he is biased toward his younger sister,
Gabriela. But based on what he has seen in their recent fights, the WBC super welterweight champion honestly believes Gabriela has supplanted Shields as the No. 1 fighter, pound for pound, in women’s boxing.
“Of course we give Claressa her flowers, because lots of achievements – lots of achievements,” Fundora told
The Ring. “And she’s knocking these girls out now, too, Claressa. I think she’s comfortable at heavyweight. But my sister’s just doing that over and over and over again.
“And there’s lots of opposition [for Gabriela], there’s lots of opponents for her to fight. Heavyweight is not as big of a division [in women’s boxing]. And again, I’m not taking nothing from [Shields]. She’s a great fighter, a historical fighter. But as of right now, I think my sister is number one.”
The Ring ranks Shields second on its
pound-for-pound list, behind Ireland’s
Katie Taylor (25-1, 6 KOs).
The two-time Olympic gold medalist from Flint, Michigan is widely viewed, however, as the most accomplished woman in boxing history. She has won world titles in five divisions, became undisputed champ in three weight classes and barely lost a round since she turned pro nearly nine years ago.
The 30-year-old Shields (17-0, 3 KOs) owns the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO heavyweight titles. There is not a Ring title for female heavyweights.
The 23-year-old Fundora (16-0, 8 KOs), of Coachella, California, is the undisputed flyweight champ and ranked No. 6 on The Ring’s pound-for-pound list. The rangy southpaw is scheduled to defend her Ring, IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO belts against Canada’s Alexas Kubicki (13-1, 2 KOs) on Saturday night in Indio, California.
DAZN will stream
Fundora-Kubicki as its co-feature from Fantasy Springs Resort Casino (8 p.m. ET; 5 p.m. PT). Puerto Rico’s
Oscar Collazo (12-0, 9 KOs) is set to defend his Ring and WBO strawweight titles against the Philippines’ Jayson Vayson (14-1-1, 8 KOs) in the 12-round main event.
Sebastian Fundora expects Gabriela to continue asserting her dominance by beating Kubicki convincingly.
Gabriela has produced knockouts in four of her past five fights. Her big brother thinks that trend will continue, even though Kubicki hasn’t been knocked out as a pro.
“I just think it’s more of us showing what we have,” Sebastian said. “I know because I’m always in the camps with her, I’m always watching her grow. We knew these things were gonna happen for her. It’s just now we’re showing the public what we have. It’s like having a new [video] game and having your friends come over, and all your friends are impressed because you have the game.
“That’s why I’m so proud, because through these moments in our life we’ve been growing together as fighters, as human beings and I’m watching her do her best in there. And at her best everybody recognizes [her] as the best. So, again, it’s easy to say, but I’m proud. I’m a proud brother. A very, very proud brother.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing.