Why Fundora's Latest Win Complicates Jaron Ennis' Title Dream

Sebastian Fundora just reminded everyone why he's such an awkward night's work, stopping mandatory challenger Ermal Hadribeaj in the final second of round 12 to keep his WBC super-welterweight belt. But the 24-1-1 (15 KO) champion didn't get an easy ride for it, and the man he beat has now offered a pointed take on how the unbeaten Jaron Ennis might fare in the same ring.

Hadribeaj gave Fundora more trouble than most expected. The 32-year-old southpaw repeatedly closed the distance, worked the inside and found ways around that 80-inch reach — the kind of raiding strategy that, on paper, looks tailor-made for a shorter, faster fighter. Then he told Shawn Porter that Ennis probably can't copy it, because stepping into the ring with Fundora reveals something that simply isn't normal.

The Speed Theory Has a Flaw

That's the crux of Hadribeaj's warning. Ennis is 36-0 (32 KO) and holds the WBA and WBO straps, a 32-knockout finisher who tends to overwhelm opponents with hand speed and output — see his TKO of Xander Zayas in the seventh. Hadribeaj's point is that speed alone didn't carry him past Fundora's size, and it may not carry Boots either. Fundora, for his part, has always insisted he's perfectly happy to trade at close range.

There's a wrinkle in the matchup, too. Hadribeaj got inside partly because he could bring his feet into range and initiate the clinch as a natural southpaw with a specific blueprint. Ennis is slick enough to switch stances, but his bread and butter is movement and volume — exactly the approach Hadribeaj suggests might not click against a man whose dimensions warp the usual rules of engagement.

First, Josh Kelly

None of this is imminent. Before an undisputed showdown with Fundora can even be penciled in, Ennis has unfinished business: a three-belt unification against IBF champion Josh Kelly, expected in January. Kelly is 18-1-1 (9 KO) and arrives on the back of a majority-decision win over Bakhram Murtazaliev, so he's no gimme.

Win that, and Ennis becomes the obvious name across the table from Fundora for the full set of belts. Lose it, and the whole conversation resets. For now, Hadribeaj's message lingers over the division — beating Fundora isn't about being quicker, it's about solving a problem that doesn't behave like anyone else at 154.