Sebastian Fundora defeated Ermal Hadribeaj with a dramatic final-round knockout to retain his World Boxing Council super welterweight crown in Las Vegas on Saturday.
The towering 6ft 6in (1.98m) Fundora used his height and reach advantages to dominate his Albanian opponent in an attritional 12-round contest.
The Towering Inferno sealed victory just before the bell rang at the end of the 12th round, flooring Hadribeaj with a brutal left hand that sent his opponent sprawling.
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“It was an interesting fight,” Fundora said afterwards.
“I had to go back and fight on the inside and show everyone again that I can still do that.
“It was dramatic to knock him out at the last second. But we’ll go back to the gym and fix some things.”
However, boxing legend Terence Crawford was less than impressed with referee Thomas Taylor waving off the count after the final buzzer, with Hadribeaj clearly staggered but back on his feet.
“What else was he supposed to do? He got to his feet. He deserved to go the distance,” he said.
Despite the victory, Crawford also doesn’t believe Fundora can take down Jaron “Boots” Ennis should he defeat Josh Kelly and set up a potential unification fight.
“Boots too fast for Fundora,” he wrote on X.
“I want to go for undisputed in this division,” Fundora said of his next fight.
“We’ll break either Jaron Ennis or Josh Kelly down, just like the last guy and the guy before that.
“We’ll keep breaking them down.”
Earlier, Hadribeaj had made a bright start, connecting with a series of stiff jabs in the opening round to rock Fundora.
But Fundora asserted his dominance in the second round, wobbling Hardibeaj with a left hand and forcing the Albanian onto the defensive.
Fundora continued to score regularly and a frustrated Hadribeaj had a point deducted in the third round for excessive holding.
A flurry of Fundora uppercuts in the fifth round left the 28-year-old from California in control and he remained comfortably ahead on points over the closing rounds.
Another Hadribeaj point deduction for holding in the 11th round left the challenger needing a stoppage to have any chance of snatching victory.
But Hadribeaj’s aggressive approach to the 12th round left him open, and Fundora duly pounced to floor his opponent after 2 minutes and 59 seconds of the 12th round.
Fundora improved to 25-1-1 (17 knockouts) while Hadribeaj fell to 23-1-1.