The Virgin Hotels at Las Vegas was the site for Showtime’s latest card courtesy of Premier Boxing Champions. The theme was crossroads fights in the super welterweight division, with the battles altering the landscape in the division, highlighted by the main event between Erickson Lubin and Sebastian Fundora with title implications.
Fundora Stops Lubin In a FOTY Candidate
The main event that closed out the card was a Fight of the Year candidate between Erickson Lubin (24-2, 17 KOs) and Sebastian Fundora (19-0-1, 13 KOs). This firefight ended with Fundora winning by the ninth-round stoppage. The size disparity is always the sight to see in Fundora fights, which was on display here. Lubin was looking to exchange with Fundora on the inside but was getting the worst of the confrontations. Fundora could land a right uppercut that hit Lubin clean and sent him down. He beat the ten count of referee Russell Mora and the fight marched on. As the third round started, it was clear that Lubin was still on shaky ground but was stuck on the ropes and was getting pelted by the taller Fundora.
Fundora sends Lubin to the canvas in round 2 😳😳#LubinFundora pic.twitter.com/en3pqjPbSl
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) April 10, 2022
Lubin could still land some great shots on Fundora upstairs for all the success that Fundora was having. The action was back and forth in this one, but Lubin was still getting the rough end of it. Lubin had better success in the fourth round as he could land more power shots from a distance of the towering Fundora. If there were any questions about the chin of Fundora, we know it held up pretty well against the southpaw Lubin as he took the right hook of Lubin better than previous opponents.
The seventh round was a rough one for Lubin as the uppercuts of Fundora were taking the toll on him. Lubin somehow withstood the barrage coming at him and fired back with a knockdown of his own as the round closed out with a right hook. For the first time in his career, Fundora was knocked down as he was forced to take a knee. He was able to beat the ten count, and this firefight continued.
THIS FIGHT 💥💥
Lubin drops Fundora for the first time in his career in round 7 😮#LubinFundora pic.twitter.com/jpiNkWO0Ke
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) April 10, 2022
It was a real close fight as the ninth round started. Credit to referee Russell Mora in this fight as he let both of the two have it without much involvement or interference. After the ninth round, Lubin’s trainer Kevin Cunnigham decided to end the night for all of us as he had seen enough punishment taken by Lubin. Someone in attendance threw something at Cunningham, which caused some confusion, but this was how the night ended in a fun fight for both. With the win, Fundora is in the driver’s seat for a title shot and will await the winner of Jermell Charlo-Brian Castano Part Two.
After 9 hellacious rounds, Lubin’s corner waves off the contest. #LubinFundora pic.twitter.com/FG6SVogLnh
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) April 10, 2022
Perrella and Salgado Open To a Split Draw
The opening bout featured undefeated Kevin Salgado making his United States debut against Bryant Perrella. It was a tactical opener. Both fighters were primarily looking to find their range. Perrella was forcing the issue early on as he kept Salgado at bay by using the jab. Salgado was also having difficulty picking up Perrella and his southpaw stance. As the fourth round closed out, Salgado’s first real sign of success in this fight was a solid body combination attack. Outside of that, Salgado was on the wrong end of most of what Perrella was doing on the outside. A left uppercut caught Salgado coming in and had him staggering back in the fifth round. He finished the round upright, but it certainly caught his attention.
.@BryantPerrella stuns Salgado with a huge left hand in round 5 💪#PerrellaSalgado #LubinFundora pic.twitter.com/uiy8AkWQ1r
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) April 10, 2022
Salgado’s biggest problem in the first half of this fight was that he wasn’t the aggressor and, outside of the onset, wasn’t putting many punches in a row to change the course of the battle. That changed in the second half as Salgado put more shots together, but Perrella could still counter and pepper Salgado with the jab whenever he missed. After ten rounds, we got cards of 97-93 Perella, 96-94 Salgado, and 95-95, making this split draw to open the telecast. As you’d expect, both fighters made their case post-fight on why they should’ve gotten the nod.
“I thought my gameplan and execution was great,” Perrella said post-fight. “I boxed smart. I broke him down. I’m not going to run from him. He was just winging big shots any time I would step in, just trying to knock me out with one punch. I kept the jab in his face. Jabs to the body. Left hands. I hurt him. Everything was going great, and it looked like I was sweeping all the rounds.”
Salgado thought, of course, otherwise:
“I felt like I won. All Perrella did was run around and away from me,” Salgado said. “Maybe if I had pressured a bit more, that last judge would have leaned more in my favor. Perrella kept throwing his jab but almost never connected.”
I thought Perrella had edged it out, but this wasn’t anything that stood out here. Perrella moves to 17-3-2 with 14 KOs with the draw, while Salgado remains unbeaten at 14-0 with 9 KOs.
Harrison Out Boxes Garcia
The co-main event of the contest was a top 10 contest at 154 as former WBC titleholder Tony Harrison (29-3-1, 21 KOs) looked sharp, defeating Sergio Garcia (33-2, 14 KOs) by unanimous decision. The final scorecards were 98-92, 100-90 x 2, all in favor of Harrison in a one-sided contest. After a feeling-out opening round, the action picked up, and so did the crowd watching as Garcia looked to keep pressuring Harrison. The jab of Harrison early on wasn’t missing the mark on Garcia as he was able to use this to his advantage.
Garcia’s constant pressure seemed to be the only wrinkle early on, and this was a Harrison who was landing a lot more on point than his last outing against Bryant Perrella.
Photo Credit: Esther Lin/Showtime
By the fifth round, Harrison continued picking apart Garcia, who didn’t have as much success in this contest as he did in his loss against Sebastian Fundora. As the sixth round was winding down, Harrison landed a nice left uppercut that buzzed Garcia for a moment. As the round ended, it was clear that Harrison was cruising in this fight, and Garcia couldn’t adjust. In the seventh round, Harrison continued this battle dominance as he started to land more combinations together. Garcia was resilient but was just outclassed here in this contest.
.@Iamboxing is showing that sweet science 😬 🥊#HarrisonGarcia #LubinFundora pic.twitter.com/43s2QZyPuz
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) April 10, 2022
Garcia, before the fight, told Keith Idec of Boxingscene that he would retire if he lost to Harrison, understanding that it would be hard to climb back up the ranks on the heels of back-to-back losses. Garcia invested in the real estate market back in his native Spain. That retirement talk didn’t happen post-fight, however.
“I can put on a show all you want, but the bottom line is that I need wins and that I have two losses in a row instead,” Garcia said. “Reality is that I’m not at a championship level yet, but I’ll keep fighting.”
Harrison held court after the win and was looking forward to seeing his wife ad kids after this.
“The first thing I’m going to do, I haven’t seen my kids in six months. I want to see my kids,” Harrison said to Jim Gray after the fight in the ring. “My step two, I have a gym called Superbad Fitness. Every time it rains, it pours in the inside of my gym. My job is to find guys that can donate to our non-profit to save about a hundred kids that work out in my gym every day. That’s step number two for me. Step number three for me, I’m going to take a vacation.”
Harrison Continued “I pitched a shutout against a guy who just fought a guy that’s in the main event right now. Muscles is the way of the streets, but skills pay the bills. He was swinging for the fences. When he was missing shots, all I heard was ‘whoosh!’. I felt it. I was trying to throw a few more counter shots in between. My composure was everything.”
With the win, Harrison will look to see who is next. My guess is a possible matchup against Tim Tszyu. This bout was a good showing and victory for Harrison here.
