Jim Lampley Breaks Down PBC on Prime Debut Main Event

Jim Lampley back in the mix feels good. His authority and intellect and trove of data collected over five decades of vocational excellence are an incomparable skill set.

La Lamps will again be co-hosting a live viewer chat in real time during the PPV.COM live stream of the Saturday, March 30 (8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT) world championship boxing event headlined by the Tim Tszyu-Sebastian Fundora / Rolando “Rolly” Romero-Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz world title fights.

The PBC on Prime debut is priced at $69.99.

Here is analysis of Tszyu vs. Fundora by Professor Lampley.

JIM LAMPLEY TSZYU vs. FUNDORA PREVIEW ANALYSIS

“Boxing is the theater of the unexpected. As of. Sunday night, March 17, Australian 154-pound champion Tim Tszyu was heading into his last full week of training for a non-title bout against more widely known former unified welterweight titleist Keith Thurman, who, at his competitive peak, fought the great Manny Pacquaio, but whose career had recently slipped into dormancy.

But as Monday arrived Tszyu learned that the 35-year-old Thurman had suffered a bicep injury and was out of the March 30 fight.

Now Tszyu will defend his status against physical anomaly Sebastian Fundora, a 6-foot-5 1/2 inch 154-pounder who is eight inches taller than Keith Thurman, whose 80-inch wingspan is eleven inches longer, who is nine years younger, and who fights out of a southpaw stance.

That tells us virtually all the specific strategic objectives of Tszyu’s training have gone out the window.

And while the boxer-puncher Thurman would likely have been pacing himself, looking for the opening to land something big, Fundora is a high-volume inside operator who will be looking to speed Tszyu up and pressure him.

“It’s a dramatic style reversal on only eleven days’ notice, and presents a stunning potential gift to Fundora, the rare occasion when a last-minute substitute can be seen as a more threatening opponent than the original,” continued Jim Lampley.

“And to top all that off, the stakes have risen now that one governing body has mandated that the winner must, within five days after March 30, begin negotiations with pound for pound superstar Terence Crawford for a unified title defense at 154 pounds.

The idea of that is to set up Crawford-Tszyu, in the current landscape a super fight.

Crawford-Fundora was not on anyone’s radar, but it’s not out of the question now. Fundora might be a freaky matchup for the Australian champion Tszyu.

NOPE. Styles make fights, and the Fundora style presents challenges that Thurman does not.

On the other hand, Fundora is entering off a 357-day layoff following a shocking knockout loss to Brian Mendoza, who, during the interim, lost a unanimous decision to Tszyu.

Can Fundora shake off the hangover of being devastated by Mendoza?

Can Tszyu make the style and mentality adjustments necessary to turn his preparation for Thurman into productive preparation for Fundora?

Jim Lampley Looking From All the Angles

Does the monetary and competitive attraction of a match with Terence Crawford amp up the intensity of the fight?

Who benefits from the style anomaly of a near-six and 1/2 foot 154-pound high volume body puncher?

These and other possibly emergent questions bring new mystery to what had previously appeared to be a predictable outcome: a paycheck for the faded Thurman and another credential for the pound-for-pound aspirant, Tszyu.

The two combatants, Fundora and Tszyu, are not strangers. They sat with each other during a Showtlme telecast of Jermell Charlo’s rematch with Brian Castano in May 2022.

Now, under different circumstances, they will go to war in what figures, on paper, to be a high-contact fight.

Boxing is fairly abundantly littered with reversals in these circumstances.

“Andy Ruiz was a late substitute in a heavyweight matchup with Anthony Joshua and knocked the champion out.

Irish fans are still lamenting Steve Cruz vs Barry McGuigan.

Rolando Navarrete stepped in late for Bazooka Limon and stopped heavily favored Cornelius Boza-Edwards,” said Jim Lampley.

“Manny Pacquiao has been on both sides of the equation. He was a late substitute opponent who knocked out defending champion Lehlo Ledwaba and 20 years later, lost a unanimous decision to Yordenis Ugas, who stepped in late for injured Errol Spence. It happens, and Tszyu must be conscious of that.

More Jim Lampley: “But given the new mandate that the winner should get a Crawford fight, the style and incentive edges still seem to lie with Tszyu, so it is still his fight to win. He just shouldn’t be shocked if it turns out to be a tougher matchup than Keith Thurman would have been.”