Few fights in the modern era are as spectacularly violent as the first time Fundora and Tszyu met in March 2024. Now both men are channeling the famous teachings of "The Art of War" ahead of Saturday's rematch.
There are few fights in the modern era as spectacularly violent as the first time Sebastian Fundora and Tim Tszyu met on March 30, 2024.
Tszyu was ahead on the scorecards until a nasty cut opened on his scalp. Even with a minute’s rest between rounds, his cutman tried to stanch the downpour. But it was a fool’s errand. Tszyu looked like he’d been hit with an axe. Fundora was busted up too, his nose and his face swollen to the point he was almost unrecognizable.
Their co-feature supports Manny Pacquiao’s return to the ring, aged 46, this Saturday against WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios. The event airs as a Premier Boxing Champions pay-per-view on Prime Video.
Fundora, a connoisseur of chaos, welcomes more of it ahead of their rematch on Saturday. “I want another fight like the first one,” he said earlier in the year. “Another bloody mess.”
Tszyu, a self-styled “throwback fighter,” has long fought anyone, anytime, any place. With bouts against the likes of Jeff Horn, Tony Harrison and Bakhram Murtazaliev, he's been true to his word.
Speaking to Uncrowned, he recalled the cut that changed everything. “I felt it straight away,” he said, brushing it off as “a bit of a scratch.”
The aftereffects still linger in his Sydney home. Inside a cabinet of memorabilia, he keeps the same handwraps from that night — and they are still stained crimson. His shorts remain soggy. Even his French bulldog, Pablo, refuses to give them a second sniff. “It was a lot of blood, man,” Tszyu said with a laugh.
Spend time around these two and you’ll see: This rematch isn’t just another fight. It’s a campaign. A second front. A test of strategy, discipline and will. And like all great battles, it has its own manual.
Enter Sun Tzu, the ancient Chinese military strategist whose teachings 2,500 years ago in "The Art of War" may offer a blueprint for how this rematch unfolds as his words echo through Fun-Tszyu 2.
“All warfare is based on deception.”
“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.”
“Know your enemy and know yourself, and you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.”
Strategy & Planning
Originally scheduled to fight Keith Thurman in 2024, Tszyu had to pivot fast when Fundora stepped in on short notice after Thurman suffered an injury to his biceps. Going from his original opponent — Thurman is 5-foot-7 with a 69-inch reach — to the 6-foot-6 Fundora with an 80-inch reach, is no small shift in task.
“The biggest takeaway I have from the first fight to the rematch,” Tszyu said, “is the fact that I get to actually prepare for him. I sort of came out swinging and had to figure everything out on the go.”
This time, Tszyu has had a full camp to adjust. He’s been sparring taller fighters, practicing the art of punching at a higher target, and drawing from the 12 rounds with Fundora that he’s already banked.
Fundora’s approach is simpler. “When it comes to strategy and planning, we hit the bag, we train, and we spar," the champ said. "Whatever Tim brings is going to be great for him, but we're focused on what Fundora can bring.”
Sun Tzu placed deception at the heart of warfare, and Fundora's simplified look at camp may well be a nod to this, particularly when he provides his thoughts on the famous quote: “In the midst of chaos, there’s opportunity.”
It resonates with the Californian boxer. “We stay calm in chaos,” Fundora said.
Why?
“Because our camps are never easy. The fancy stuff, family … that's easy. We're smiling, and we're enjoying it. We see fans. They're greeting us, they're loving us. But the camps are hard. They’re tough. We go through lots of dramatic stuff through camp. We go through hardship.
“When the fight comes,” Fundora continued, “the chaos that you guys see, well, it’s nothing but a breeze to me.”
The importance of adaptation
Tszyu acknowledges that, like Tzu warned, battles can be lost before they even begin. “Fights can be won before, but you’ve got to be able to have a mindset of adapting to what’s in front of you," he said.
In the first fight, Tszyu had to adjust to Fundora’s range, and then once again when the cut opened and blood poured everywhere. “I didn’t adapt as quickly as I wanted," he said. "That’s my biggest takeaway.”
Fundora sees it differently. He credits Tszyu, despite the waves of blood that blurred his vision. “He looked game through the whole fight to me,” Fundora said, before admitting he targeted the cut deliberately. “Like you said, this is 'The Art of War.'”
Effective leadership and discipline
Sun Tzu also emphasized the importance of leadership and unity: A well-led army does not falter.
“I’ve got the right people around me with No Limit, my manager, my coach, promoters … everyone's on board and we're all loyal to each other,” Tszyu said. “That's the main theme.”
Fundora credits his longtime manager Sampson Lewkowicz, and, of course, his father/trainer Freddy. “My team is one of the best in boxing because we go out there, we do our job, and we do it professionally," he said. "We make sure there's no bumps or cuts or anything like that, and we just get the job done — always.”
That discipline may have shown in how each team handled adversity. Tszyu’s corner could have pulled him after that cut in 2024, which may have led to a technical decision win at best, or a No Contest at worst. Instead, he fought on and lost a decision. Fundora, meanwhile, took a year off to heal and then steamrolled Chordale Booker in four rounds. Tszyu returned too soon and was punished by Bakhram Murtazaliev in a brutal TKO loss.
“He needed more time to recover,” Fundora said of Tszyu. “He got hit more. We had a little swollen nose — nothing wrong with that. They gave us time to heal and we took full advantage [of that time away from the ring].”
It’s a lesson Fundora says he often discusses with his father. “These questions and talking points? They’re not new to me.”
Knowing yourself — and the enemy
Sun Tzu's most famous principle may be this: “Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will not fear the result of a hundred battles.”
Both fighters feel they’ve gained that insight.
“You learn more from your losses than your wins,” Tszyu said. “I intend to come back and put on a show.”
Fundora agrees — to a point.
He says he knows Tszyu more intimately than past opponents like Erickson Lubin or Brian Mendoza, but doesn’t overthink it. “I just need to focus on what I can do,” he said.
So what can Fundora do?
“I can win,” he finished. “And I’m going to win.”
Category: General Sports
