The other half of Saturday’s split screen is in Las Vegas, where Sebastian Fundora defends his WBC super welterweight title against unbeaten mandatory challenger Ermal Hadribeaj at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan. Premier Boxing Champions presents the card as the latest installment of The Fight, a four-bout telecast airing on TNT, truTV and DAZN starting at 8 pm ET, with no pay-per-view charge. Main event ring walks are expected around 11 pm ET.
The main event is Fundora’s fourth defense of the WBC belt. The 28-year-old from West Palm Beach, Florida is 24-1-1 with 16 knockouts and is coming off the stoppage of Keith Thurman in March. Hadribeaj, 23-0-1 with 8 knockouts, is a former professional MMA fighter from Albania now based in Miami who did not box for pay until he was 25. He earned the mandatory position by beating Bakary Samake for the WBC Silver title in May.
Fundora has made no secret that this is a fight he has to get through on the way to the one he wants. “I’d like to unify. I want the winner between Jaron Ennis and Josh Kelly. I think that’s the best fight in the 154-pound division. I’m ready for whoever,” he said during an Instagram Live session this week. “This is boxing, you have to fight everyone if you want to be the best. I consider myself the best, so come after me.”
“The Thurman win was a good win for me, it did a lot for my career. Now I’m excited to make another defense on October 17,” Fundora said. “This is what I do. I’m in the gym every day with my family. So when it’s time to step into the ring in front of other people, it’s really just another day for me.”
The oddsmakers agree with him. Fundora is a heavy favorite across the board, priced in the neighborhood of -650 at US books with Hadribeaj in the +430 range, and as short as 1/20 at some UK shops. Check DraftKings, BetMGM and Caesars for the current lines.
The co-main event is Brandon Figueroa’s first defense of the WBA featherweight title he took from Nick Ball in the UK. The two-division champion from Weslaco, Texas faces former world champion Tomoki Kameda of Japan. “It feels amazing to be champion again. I said yes right away to going to the U.K. to face Nick Ball and now we’re here with the belt and ready to defend it,” Figueroa said. “Kameda has great experience. He’s been in there with a lot of world champions and he has the grit you need. He’s gonna use his experience, but we’re training 110%.”
“Right now I’m just locked in on my fight. I want to break Tomoki Kameda’s heart. That’s my plan and that’s my mission,” Figueroa added. “I haven’t been home in three months, so I’m just ready to go out and perform and give the fans exciting fights.”
The card lost Jermall Charlo a week and a half out. The unbeaten two-division champion, who was set to face Australia’s Koen Mazoudier in a 10-round super middleweight bout in his first fight in roughly 17 months, withdrew with an undisclosed training injury. Former WBA super middleweight champion Armando Resendiz of Mexico, 16-3 with 11 knockouts, stepped in on 10 days’ notice to face Mazoudier, 16-4-1 with 6 knockouts, in the third fight of the telecast.
The telecast opens at 8 pm ET with Marco Romero, and readers of this site should know the name. Romero made his professional debut on July 26, 2024 at the Showroom at Tropicana Atlantic City on a Boxing Insider Promotions card, on the undercard of the Otto Wallin headliner that aired live on DAZN. He was 19 years old, fresh off winning the National Golden Gloves and being named Outstanding Boxer of that tournament, and he stopped Victor Pradis that night in a building where Wallin needed only 48 seconds for his own fight. Bruce Seldon Jr., Jacob Riley Solis and Stacia Suttles were on the same bill.
Romero has not stopped since. He fought 14 times in roughly two years, signed with Premier Boxing Champions this summer, and won his PBC debut in August with a first-round stoppage of Kahlil Mitchell. The Olathe, Kansas native now stands 15-0 with 13 knockouts, trained and managed by John Brown out of the Turner Boxing Academy in Kansas City, where he has been since he was seven. He compiled a 136-5 amateur record and 23 national titles before turning pro.
“It’s a dream come true to be on this stage. Coming off the performance that I had in August, I just can’t wait to do it again on October 17,” Romero said. “I’m really grateful for this opportunity. It shows that my team believes in me and it shows what they expect from me. I’m here to deliver more big performances.”
“I’m looking to show that I’m the full package. I can brawl and I can box. I can counterpunch and I have the ring IQ to do anything,” Romero added. “If this goes a few more rounds, I’ll be able to demonstrate that to the public.” He credited his camp sparring for the jump in level. “Sparring with world champions Osleys Iglesias and Christian Mbilli and getting that experience has made me that much better of a fighter. Knowing that I want to be at their level someday gives me the motivation to keep pushing.”
His opponent in the eight-round super middleweight opener is Braulio Ferreira of Uruguay, 8-3 with 3 knockouts, who stopped the previously unbeaten Ruben Mauricio Marquez in the seventh round in March. This is Ferreira’s third fight in the United States, and his previous two came against unbeaten fighters. “Saturday, October 17 is going to be my night,” Ferreira said. “I’ve been training very hard for this opportunity.”
The televised card in full: Fundora vs. Hadribeaj, 12 rounds, WBC super welterweight title; Figueroa vs. Kameda, 12 rounds, WBA featherweight title; Resendiz vs. Mazoudier, 10 rounds, super middleweight; Romero vs. Ferreira, 8 rounds, super middleweight. Preliminary bouts stream on the PBC YouTube channel. The Fight airs Saturday, October 17 at 8 pm ET on TNT, truTV and DAZN.
