Women’s Boxing is still experiencing the high of the first all women's Boxing card to be held inside the historic Madison Square Garden this past July, which was headlined by the third encounter between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, two undisputed world champions in the Jr. Welterweight and Featherweight divisions respectively, who along with current Undisputed Heavyweight world champion Claressa Shields, have served as cornerstones of the sport in the most recent era of Women’s Boxing. As great and groundbreaking as that trilogy was for the sport overall, as what will likely be the final encounter and quite possibly, the final fight in each future Hall of Famer’s respective career, inevitably the question that should be asked is what fighter or fighters might be able to move into the role of helping to advance the sport further as the next star in the sport. Enter Gabriela Fundora.
Fundora, who comes from a fighting family and is the sister of current Men's WBC Jr Middleweight world champion Sebastian Fundora, has established herself as a world champion in her own right as the current Women’s Undisputed Flyweight world champion. Fundora first became a world champion in October 2023 with a fifth round knockout of IBF champion Arely Mucino, and quickly went on to fully unify the Flyweight division, becoming Undisputed world champion one year later after two successful defenses of her IBF crown by knocking out unified WBC/WBA/WBO world champion Gabriela Alaniz in seven rounds.
Following a successful defense of her undisputed crown in April of this year with a seventh round stoppage of Marilyn Amaya, Fundora, 16-0, with 8 Knockouts entered the ring for her next title defense on September 20th at the Fantasy Springs Resort and Casino in Indio, CA. Originally, Fundora was to defend against South American Flyweight champion Ayelen Granadino of Argentina, but she was denied entry into the United States for the bout due to undisclosed reasons. In stepped current North American Boxing Federation Flyweight champion Alexas Kubicki from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on short notice and the fight went on as scheduled.
A recurring theme of not only Gabriela Fundora's fights, but also those of her brother's is that both are blessed with height and reach advantages that give them an advantage for the weight classes they are in over most of their opposition. In this case, Fundora used her 5’9 frame to keep Kubicki, who entered the bout with a record of 13-1, with 2 Knockouts, on the outside where Kubicki simply could not avoid Fundora’s frequent straight left, right hook combinations from the southpaw stance. Whenever Kubicki was able to close the distance and get on the inside of Fundora's reach, she was ineffective as the champion was able to tie her up in a clinch before she could get any significant offense off.
Despite being very “Game” and stepping into a world championship bout on short notice, Kubicki simply had no answers or head movement to be able to avoid Fundora's offense as the combat became increasingly one-sided as the bout went on. Seeing the effects of the punishment she was sustaining over most of the fight, Referee Ray Corona mercifully stopped the bout at :43 of the seventh round. Although Kubicki was not knocked down, the stoppage was appropriate. No one can take anything away from Alexas Kubicki and the heart she showed in this fight. All too often, however, fighters tend to be too brave for their own good and if a fighter's corner is not proactive in not only seeing the signs that their charge is out gunned, but also recognizing that they are taking too much punishment with no answer to turn things around, it is the referee's responsibility to protect the fighter from themselves.
With her latest title defense behind her, the obvious question is what's next for Gabriela Fundora? Outside of a possible fight against Ayelen Granadino, who was supposed to challenge her in this fight, assuming Granadino can either resolve her visa issues to gain entry into the United States or potentially have the bout staged at another location outside of the U.S., this observer believes the now 17-0, with 9 Knockouts Fundora should consider moving up to either the 115lb. Jr. Bantamweight or 118lb. Bantamweight divisions to seek to unify a second division as many female fighters past and present have done in moving up and down in weight based largely on what opportunities might be available both in terms of financially as well as for world championships. Fundora is only twenty-three years of age and it did not take her long to essentially clean out the 112lb. Flyweight division. Based on her natural advantages physically as well as her skillset, it is hard to envision her being challenged at this point in the Flyweight division, but her status as not only an undisputed world champion, but also one of the sport’s rising stars will likely open opportunities for her as she moves up in weight.
As has been the case with many great fighters both male and female, this may only be chapter one of what has all the potential of a great career. It may not be long where like Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor before her, Gabriela Fundora, is viewed as a cornerstone of Women’s Boxing.
“And That's The Boxing Truth.”
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