Sebastian Fundora Vs. Chordale Booker Eye for March

WBC and WBO Junior Middleweight Champion Sebastian Fundora is finalizing a fight against #5 Chordale Booker for March at the PBC in Las Vegas on Prime Video.

Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KOs) is an unusual choice, but he has been out of the ring for 10 months, recovering from injuries, and his attempts to arrange fights with Errol Spence Jr. and Joey Spencer have failed. . He was going to fight one of the two but was rejected by the World Boxing Organization.

Strategic choice

The 33-year-old Booker (23-1, 11 KOs) has been operating under the radar of most fans during his nine-year professional career. He moved up to the world rankings against Austin ‘Amo’ Williams and lost in the first round on April 30, 2022.

Since then, Booker has returned to fighting lower-ranked opponents and has won his last six fights against obscure opponents. It suits Fundora to give him a sure win to knock the rust out, but it’s clearly not a fight that will appeal to boxing fans. I don’t think he cares about that. Holding the belts is the important thing.

Few people have heard of Booker because he’s been fighting lesser opposition, and he’s had a rough first-round blowout loss to Ammo Williams trying to fight top-tier fighters.

Chordale Booker’s last six wins:

– Brian Damian Chavez (14-6, 5 KOs)
– Greg Vendetti (23-6-1, 12 KOs)
– Julio De Jesus Rodriguez (27-8, 24 KOs)
– Nicolas Hernandez (28-8-3, 12 KOs)
– Daniel Aduku (15-7-1, 11 KOs)
– Angel Hernandez (17-18-3, 11 KOs)

There are many competitors that Fundora could have fought in the top 10 and they would have been more interesting but they could have been dangerous.

If Fundora hopes to hold the title long enough to fight Terence Crawford or other fighters for big money, it makes sense to defend against the likes of Booker. Fundora can play it safe to milk the two titles for Turki Al-Sheikh to pay a fortune to fight on one of the shows against someone of his choosing.

The WBO’s top 10 fighters

1. Xander Zayas
2. Charles Conwell
3. Josh Kelly
4. Jorge Garcia Perez
5. Chordale Booker
6. Ardrell Holmes
7. Israel Madrimov
8. Serhii Bohachuk
9. Nikita Tszyu
10. Jesus Ramos

Unified junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora and Chordell Booker are finalizing a March fight in Las Vegas, sources told ESPN. A fight on Prime Video is expected.

Booker is on a six-fight winning streak since his first-round KO loss to Amo Williams in 2022.

— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) January 22, 2025