What To Know
- October’s edition of “The Fight” series on TNT Sports and DAZN Boxing features two championship fights featuring Americans Sebastian Fundora and Brandon Figueroa on an action-oriented four fight card on Saturday, October 17.
- With a win, Fundora hopes to score a division unification fight with the winner of the upcoming fight between Jaron Ennis and Josh Kelly.
- The card takes place in Las Vegas at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, with the main card on both DAZN Boxing and TNT Sports at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT
American talent takes on their world rivals in this Saturday’s edition of “The Fight,” the monthly live boxing event available outside streaming services on TNT Sports, live from Las Vegas.
It is a critically important platform to encourage sports fans who don’t always seek out boxing like the hardcore followers, but who enjoy great action when given the chance.
As WBC World Super Welterweight champion Sebastian Fundora told me in an interview last week, “Who doesn’t like free fights?”
“We have a big card! We have the champions, we have the people who want to beat the champions … it will make a knockout of a weekend,” said Fundora.
While it might not be the fight with Jaron Ennis or Josh Kelly fans are eager to see, Fundora of Coachella, California (24-1-1, 16 KOs) will take on his mandatory challenger, the undefeated Ermal Hadribeaj of Albania (23-0-1, 8 KOs), who lives and trains in Miami, Florida.
Fundora returns for his second fight in 2026 after a beatdown of former world champion Keith Thurman Jr. in March. He will defend his title for the third time against Hadribeaj since winning the title in a bloody war against Tim Tszyu of Australia in 2024.
Fundora Checking Off Mandatory Matchup
Fundora is eager to unify the division against whoever has a belt around his waist. But he’s biding his time with this mandatory matchup until Ennis and Kelly settle things, when one man emerges with three belts and comes looking for Fundora’s green strap.
Hadribeaj is getting the biggest opportunity of his boxing career after making the shift from MMA in 2018, leaving with a 4-1 record. Hadribeaj earned the opportunity by winning a WBC title eliminator over Bakary Samake by decision on a ProBox TV card in May. His goal is to become Albania’s first world champion.
“The Albanian Sniper” is unbeaten but the resume is slim. He gets a golden opportunity to fight for a world title, but it’s a big hill to climb in more ways than one. Fundora is an overwhelming betting favorite to retain his WBC super welterweight championship, entering as a -1450 favorite, while Hadribeaj is listed as a +750 underdog.
We made it several hundred words into this preview before meeting our own mandatory obligation: pointing out Fundora’s freakish height. He is 6-foot-6 inches tall and still making the 154 pound super welterweight limit with ease, boasting at Thursday’s final news conference that he had a scrambled eggs and hash browns breakfast with bread that morning and is still making weight comfortably.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>FUNDORA VS HADRIBEAJ! The height difference is CRAZY! 🤯 #FundoraHadribeaj | Oct 17 | Live on DAZN ▪️ https://t.co/RBeZH7Phj8</p>— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) <a href=”https://x.com/DAZNBoxing/status/2110835649896988963?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>October 15, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.x.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
As fight day looms, one after another each promises he’s found the key to beating Fundora. Hadribeaj is no different, promising an exciting fight.
““I’m athletic, I’m fast, I’m strong. I work hard. What advantage does he have? He’s tall,” shrugged Hadribeaj. “We’ll be ready. We’re very aware of it. We’ll see Saturday night.”
“I see an undefeated fighter, a hungry fighter,” said Fundora, who said it’s nothing new after facing world champions. “You cannot overlook anybody … He only know how to win. We’re going to break him.”
This makes an ideal fight for TNT Sports: two opponents who love nothing more than a good brawl. Hadribeaj says he’s willing to go to war.
One of the criticisms over the years about Fundora is that he loves to get into a firefight and brawl on the inside, when he could easily outbox his opponents at the expense of his height and reach advantage.
But where’s the fun in that? Fundora has stopped his last three opponents.
“Hadribeaj is undefeated, he’s the mandatory and he’s hungry to win. But it’s nothing we’re unfamiliar with,” said Fundora, who also emphasized the experience he’s gained after boxing for 22 years and approaching things more thoughtfully at age 28.
“I’ve been getting smarter and wiser. Everything is lining up. The fights are showing the results of everything we’re doing in camp,” saying it’s all about maturity, and listening more to his father and trainer, Freddy Fundora, as well as observing his sister, undisputed world flyweight champion Gabriela “Sweet Poison” Fundora, now preparing for her own title defense on November 20 at home in Indio.
With the Ennis vs Kelly fight anticipated to take place in either December or in January 2027, it sets up a fight for the undisputed super welterweight championship. Speaking for boxing fans, we’re ready for it.
Brandon Figueroa Win = Naoya Inoue in 2027?
A successful title defense in the co-main event by two-division world champion Brandon “The Heartbreaker” Figueroa of Welasco, Texas (27-2-1, 20 KOs) takes on even more importance with this week’s news that pound-for-pound undisputed champion Naoya Inoue of Japan will be moving up to the featherweight division along with Figueroa for his next fight in early 2027.
Figueroa makes the first defense of his WBA Featherweight Championship against former world champion Tomoki Kameda of Japan (42-5, 23 KOs). Figueroa won his title with a dramatic knockout victory over Nick Ball in February in Liverpool, England.
“I lost it before, but I gained it back, and I don’t plan on losing it again,” said Figueroa. “Trust me, I will give the best of me every time I fight. I can’t wait to go out there and let my hands fly, it’s what I was born to do.”
The 35-year-old Kameda wants one last run at a world title. He’s delivered some fearsome performances since moving to Mexico at 15 to train. He speaks fluent Spanish, and he’s nicknamed “El Mexicanito” for a reason.
“Everyone is picking against me including my brother, everyone in Japan is thinking I’ll lose,” laughed Kameda. “My brother may say that but I always have a lot of Mexican family, and that family supports me 100 percent!”
This sets up as the best fight of the night. Kameda will give it all he’s got, but it isn’t likely to be enough against the 29-year-old Figueroa hitting his stride after being out of the ring 17 months. Figueroa has settled in with his new trainer Manny Robles and, should he win, Figueroa and his belt will be an attractive choice. “Line them up, I want all of them!” said Figueroa.
Armando Reséndiz Steps In For Jermall Charlo
Former world champion Armando Reséndiz of Mexico (16-3, 11 KOs), who scored an upset victory over Caleb Plant in 2025 before losing in a title fight to Jaime Munguia, will face Koen Mazoudier of Australia (16-4-1, 6 KOs) in a 10-round bout.
Reséndiz got the call after Jermall Charlo withdrew one week ago due to injury. Why did Reséndiz agree to take the fight on short notice? “There’s a lot of things I want to accomplish, a lot of things I want to grow on. That’s my mindset. I want to showcase what I can do,” said Reséndiz.
The 27-year-old Reséndiz said his recent career has been a roller coaster. “But if there’s one thing that I’ve proven, I always get back up. There’s always a next chapter. I have full confidence in myself, my team, and God,” insisting he will be a world champion again in a competitive division.
Earlier in the week, Mazoudier said of himself, “I bring a firefight every fight. Every fight I’m in is an entertaining fight. I’ve been voted Australia’s Most Entertaining Fight, and most of my fights have been in Fight of the Year contention.
“I’m a big fan of this sport as much as I’m a competitor. So fighting a Mexican former world champion in Las Vegas is a bucket-list item.”
Reséndiz called Mazoudier “tough with a lot of heart. The fans are going to be the true winners of the night because it’s going to be a very attractive fight.”
Introducing Marco Romero To The Big Stage
Unbeaten super middleweight prospect Marco Romero (15-0, 13 KOs) will put his perfect record on the line against Braulio Ferreira of Uruguay (8-3, 3 KOs) in an eight-round fight to open the card.
Ferreira predicted a knockout in under four rounds. Romero said, “I love that type of fight!” saying most of his opponents tend to run and move, “If he’s ready to come in and brawl, that’s perfect for me!”
Romero has been in training camp in Montreal helping Christian Mbilli prepare for his fight with Canelo Alvarez, and with Osleys Iglesias leading up to his knockout win last week. “I held my own in there. I definitely held my own in there, and they showed me just a couple things that I need to work on. But it just shows me I’m not too far from that level.”
Gayle Falkenthal is an award-winning boxing journalist with more than four dozen awards for both written and video coverage from the Boxing Writers Association of America, Society of Professional Journalists, and San Diego Press Club, where she is the past president. She is the only woman journalist who is a full voting member of the BWAA. She is the Boxing Editor for NY Fights based in San Diego, California.
