(Lina Baker/Premier Boxing Champions)

Sebastian Fundora vs. Keith Thurman: To Timber or Not to Timber

By: Sal Arteaga – 03/23/2026

Sebastian “The Towering Inferno” Fundora (23-1-1, 15 KOs) defends his WBC super welterweight championship against former unified champion Keith “One Time” Thurman (31-1, 23 KOs) on Saturday, March 28 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. A match between two fighters at different stages in their career. The young champion against the aging veteran. The 28-year-old Fundora is just beginning his reign as WBC champion in only his third title defense. He’s been improving as a boxer with every fight and has yet to reach his full potential.

Since losing to Brian Mendoza in April of 2023, he’s developed as a fighter going from a simple insider fighter to using range and keeping his opponents at distance, by learning how to utilize his 80-inch reach effectively. It was in his first match against Tim Tszyu where he finally began using his physical advantages. Pre-Tszyu his offense was predominantly power punches on the inside with minimal jabbing. His jab rate was anemic, consisting of a rate near 12.4 percent. This fighting style was much more aggressive, and he took more punishment as a result and it’s what led to him suffering a knockout loss against Mendoza. In his first Tszyu match he finally began boxing at distance and utilizing his jab efficiently. He jabbed at a career high rate, throwing 437 jabs, which consisted of 60.6 percent of his overall punches. He continued this strategy in his next match against Chordale Booker where he earned a fourth-round technical knockout victory, throwing 211 jabs in the process, making up 58.4 percent of his offense (Compubox).

Fundora is on a steady progression, and he now faces a crafty veteran in Thurman who is hungry to capture another world title. Keith has vowed to recapture championship glory and wants to add to his legacy. He looked impressive in his return to the ring after his long 3-year layoff, making quick work of Brock Jarvis, stopping him in the third round. It appears he’s looking to do the same to Fundora, stating he’s going to chop him down like a tree, giving birth to the hashtag timber. Although Sebastian has been dropped in the past against Erickson Lubin and Brian Mendoza, given his new offensive approach there are fewer opportunities for Keith to capitalize on.

Thurman is fighting in his second fight at super welterweight and he hasn’t been truly challenged in this division until now, facing one of the best in the division. He’s 37 years old and isn’t as agile or elusive as he once was. In turn he’s become more economical with his output, choosing to attack with precision rather than volume. Fundora will pose a physical challenge, holding an 11-inch reach advantage and standing nearly a foot taller than Keith. He has true divisional power and will test Thurman’s sharpness, who’s only fought three rounds in the last four years. This is Sebastian’s fight to lose, and he mustn’t get overconfident or take Thurman lightly, who will seek to test him early. If Thurman can’t neutralize the jab, it may be an early night for him.

Mario Barrios vs. Ryan Garcia: The Warrior Spirit

By: Sal Arteaga – 02/14/2026

Ryan Garcia (24-2, 20 KOs) seeks to capture his first world title against WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios (29-2-2, 18 KOs) on February 21 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. A fight he’s dedicating to his first and current trainer, his father Henry Garcia. He’s promised him to be at his best for this fight looking to capture championship gold. Up to now he’s given every indication that he is, looking focused and disciplined in camp. He’s released several videos of himself in camp which highlight his fast-punching output. He looks on point to truly challenge Barrios.

Mario understands the difficulties Ryan poses and appears to have sought to gain a strategical advantage by hiring former Garcia trainer, Joe Goossen. A move that Ryan has viewed as a betrayal, calling Goossen a traitor for training a fighter to fight him. Garcia has stated he knows the Goossen training regime, he knows what it entails and he knows what to expect from a Goossen trained fighter. Barrios has changed trainers in the past having switched trainers when he lost two consecutive matches to Gervonta Davis and Keith Thurman making the move from trainer Virgil Hunter to Bob Santos. Now after having suffered two consecutive draws to Abel Ramos and Manny Pacquiao he makes a change yet again this time to Joe.

At the launch press conference, Goossen stated they were training for volume, having increased sparring and overall training for this camp. Possibly aiming to attack Garcia with offensive volume given his last performance. In his last fight against Rolly Romero, Ryan looked flat, unprepared, and offensively ineffective. He had a very anemic output, throwing only 210 punches in the fight (Compubox). His lack of offensive output led to him losing the fight. Ryan has since said he wasn’t training properly for that fight and wasn’t mentally focused.

In his second match at welterweight, Ryan faces a tough fighter in Barrios with championship level experience and one who will test him to the end. Mario has rugged determination. He has the warrior spirit, unyielding; he’ll go out on his shield. Ryan must be prepared for Barrios to seek to exploit his weaknesses. Goossen was Garcia’s trainer when he fought Emmanuel Tagoe, a fight Ryan won but demonstrated difficulty in cutting the ring off. Tagoe utilized lateral movement to evade Ryan’s attack and was able to survive the fight on the outside. Barrios has a one-inch reach advantage, and he’ll seek to use it against Ryan seeking to stay out of range by controlling the distance.

Barrios has been in many tough fights; he’s not the most technically sound fighter and has taken significant punishment as a result. His face has shown the toll of those wars through bruising, swelling, and cuts. Garcia predicts this will be no different, predicting a bloody fight. With Ryan being the faster and stronger fighter how will Mario hold up to the punishment? Since moving up to welterweight Barrios has only scored a knockout victory against the smaller sized Jovanie Santiago. This is Ryan’s moment he must seize it and execute his game plan to be successful if not it’ll be another missed opportunity.

Teofimo Lopez vs. Shakur Stevenson: Recognition, Praise, and Glory

By: Sal Arteaga – 01/10/2026

Teofimo Lopez (22-1, 13 KOs) is set to defend his WBO and Ring junior welterweight titles against Shakur Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs) in an epic battle at the mecca of boxing, Madison Square Garden on Saturday, January 31. The fight will be a high-level chess match between two elite fighters. Lopez is a two-weight lineal world champion whose defeated the likes of Vasiliy Lomachenko and Josh Taylor. In Stevenson you have arguably the best technical boxer in the sport today, a 3-division world champion who seeks to capture a title in his fourth weight class.

Both fighters are in search of greatness, and both know greatness comes from facing elite level competition. The winner of this match will receive the recognition, praise, and glory they’ve been in search of. To win though, both will have to overcome the biggest challenge of their respective career. For Teo, he’ll be facing the boxing style that’s posed the most difficult for him—the elusive, agile, mobile boxer who knows how to control distance and range. In Shakur he finds the master defensive boxer who seemingly does it the best. In his matches against Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz, Teo struggled to cut the ring off and was limited offensively.

Jamaine outlanded Teo in 5 rounds and overall landed 2 more punches in the match, 80 to 78. Stevenson will look to outpoint Lopez by controlling the range—appearing to be within striking distance and then gracefully stepping out of range. It’s an artform Stevenson has mastered: hit and not get hit. He has the best plus-minus in boxing at 20.2 (Compubox). The plus-minus metric measures the difference in punches landed to those absorbed, meaning Shakur significantly outlands his opponents. Teo is entering his seventh match at junior welterweight; he'll be the strongest, most skilled boxer Shakur has faced up to now. Lopez is great on the inside but to be truly effective he’ll have to find a way to time Shakur and catch him when he’s in range—easier said than done due to Stevenson’s speed, agility, and surgical precision.

A master boxer knows how to minimize his opponents’ strengths while exploiting their weaknesses. Shakur has demonstrated the ability and IQ of a master boxer by defeating and dominating boxers with varying styles. From boxers with Olympic pedigrees in Robson Conceicao, Oscar Valdez, and Artem Harutyunyan to offensive volume boxers like William Zepeda, he’s demonstrated the ability to adapt and thrive against all of them. This is his fight to lose. Stevenson possesses the skill set which Lopez struggles the most against. He mustn’t become overconfident or take unnecessary risks as Teo will seek to capitalize on his mistakes. Lopez is at his best when he is underestimated and overlooked. He faced similar odds when he faced and upset the technician in Lomachenko. Lopez was measured, calculated, and utilized his jab effectively. Shakur is much more defensive than Loma; he’ll limit the exchanges, giving Lopez fewer offensive opportunities. He’ll dictate the pace and the match.

Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua: Daring To Be Legendary 

By: Sal Arteaga - 12/08/2025

Jake Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) is attempting to do the impossible which is defeating the former two time unified WBO, WBA, and IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs). An impossible task due to Jake’s limited experience. He has skill but to say he’s developed enough as a fighter to challenge an Olympic gold medalist and former heavyweight champion would be a stretch. Why then would Paul take up a fight like this? This is greater than daring to be great, this is daring to be legendary. Rainbet lists Paul as a big underdog at +600 and Joshua a -1429 favorite. If he were able to somehow come out victorious, it would be the greatest Cinderella story ever. Accomplishing the impossible. 

In Anthony Joshua, you have a boxer in the later stages of his career whose coming off a devasting loss to Daniel Dubois. A fight in which he was dropped four times and was viciously knocked out. After suffering such a loss, it may make many believe he’s on the decline and  primed for the picking. Boxing great Andre Ward publicly challenged Joshua to a fight after the loss. The 28-year-old Jake thinks he can use his youth and speed to defeat the 36-year-old Joshua. When the 38-year-old Mike Tyson lost consecutive matches to Danny Williams and Kevin McBride he retired because his skills had deteriorated to the point where he could no longer be competitive. Has Joshua reached this level? Although he may have lost a step, he can still be competitive at the championship level. He’s rumored to be fighting Tyson Fury in a mega fight in 2026. 

In his last match against the former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Jake easily overworked a very low offensive output from Chavez. Heavyweights by nature are lower volume punchers than the smaller sized boxers but their punches are much heavier and one  single blow can knock a person out. With the exception of Mike Tyson, in the 13 professional matches he’s had, Paul was the bigger fighter. Now for the first time in his career, he faces a bigger, stronger fighter in Anthony. When you face a stronger puncher the margin for error is small, one costly mistake could cost you. For Jake, the margin of error is non-existent, he has to be perfect for 24 minutes or he’ll end up on the canvas.

Although Chavez had very low volume (154), he was able to connect on 39.6 percent of his punches against Paul (Compubox). If Jake allows Joshua to land 40 percent of his punches he’s  going to be in a world of hurt. He must tighten up defensively and use a high guard. He rarely  put his hands up against Chavez. He did not fear the incoming punches from the smaller 39- year-old, he will against Joshua. In this match, he may find himself fighting on his back foot as Joshua will look to initiate the pressure, feeling he can bully and outbox Paul. If Jake can’t make the necessary defensive adjustments, it’ll be a very early night for him. He must be able find a way to defend effectively. Surviving the 8-rounder will be a win in itself for Jake. He’s accomplished great things in boxing, being able to promote one of the most viewed boxing events in history. Paul is a marketing genius; there is no denying that, many hate him for being a YouTuber turned boxer. We live in a free-market economy where anyone can compete, and Jake has thrived in it. He is the co-owner of the leading promotional company for women’s boxing and his influence in the sport will only grow from here. Win or lose his influence in boxing has been felt.