Fundora KOs Hadribeaj in 12th to Retain WBC Title

LAS VEGAS — Sebastian Fundora retained the WBC super welterweight title Saturday night, knocking out previously unbeaten challenger Ermal Hadribeaj in the final seconds of the 12th round at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan. Referee Thomas Taylor stopped the fight after Hadribeaj failed to beat the count.

The stoppage salvaged a card already fractured by the cancellation of its original co-main event. Brandon Figueroa fell ill during rehydration Friday after missing weight for his WBA featherweight title bout against Tomoki Kameda, forcing promoters to scrap the fight entirely. Under WBA rules, missing weight automatically strips a champion of the belt before the first bell rings, leaving Kameda without an opponent or a title opportunity on roughly 24 hours’ notice.

Fundora (25-1-1, 17 knockouts) needed the late knockout to settle what had been a grueling tactical fight. For the first half, Hadribeaj executed a suffocating inside game plan designed specifically to neutralize the 6-foot-5 champion’s reach advantage. He smothered Fundora’s punches, landed looping right hands and hooks to the chin, and forced the titleholder into uncomfortable exchanges.

That aggression carried a price. Taylor deducted a point from Hadribeaj for holding in Round 3. In Round 11, with 1:47 remaining, Taylor issued a warning and stripped a second point less than a minute later for continued fouling. Those deductions ultimately proved decisive given how close the rounds were scored before the finish.

CompuBox statistics broadcast during Round 6 showed Fundora landing just nine of 106 jabs. By the championship rounds, the pace shifted. An uppercut in Round 8 dislodged Hadribeaj’s mouthpiece. Visible bruising spread across the right side of the challenger’s torso. Fundora targeted the ribs consistently. “When I was hitting his rib cage with the left hand I can feel it,” Fundora told broadcaster Chris Mannix in the ring. “But when I went up the middle I could hear the noise he made.”

Hadribeaj (23-1-1) suffered the first defeat of his professional career. He was bleeding from the mouth by Round 10. With the final bell seconds away, Fundora landed the shot that dropped him.

Kameda addressed the canceled Figueroa fight on Instagram, stating the WBA and promoters promised him priority status for the next available featherweight title fight. Weight management failures disrupting scheduled world title bouts remain a persistent issue across sanctioning bodies, often leaving prepared fighters without recourse beyond future promises.

The Figueroa cancellation elevated Armando “Toro” Reséndiz and Koen Mazoudier to the co-main event slot. Reséndiz won a unanimous decision, 98-92, 97-93 and 97-93, in a 10-round super middleweight contest that ran significantly closer than the official scorecards indicated.

Mazoudier absorbed heavy body work early but refused to retreat. He snapped Reséndiz’s head back with an uppercut in Round 6 and landed a right hand at the Round 7 bell that stood his opponent upright. Reséndiz answered a big left hook in Round 8 with five consecutive right hands. Both men traded until the final bell of Round 9. A combination with 30 seconds left in the 10th round rocked Mazoudier, who stayed on his feet.

Reséndiz improved to 17-3.

Fundora immediately pointed toward undisputed status at 154 pounds. When asked if he wants the winner of the upcoming Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Josh Kelly fight, Fundora did not hesitate. “Absolutely,” he said. Three other major belts in the division remain outside his possession.