Top junior middleweight contender Sebastian Fundora will return to action on Oct. 8, facing Carlos Ocampo in a Showtime main event from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif., a venue that has a reputation for exciting fights.
Fundora (19-0-1, 13 KO) is coming off of a stoppage win over Erickson Lubin in April, where both fighters were knocked down and had to prove their mettle.
“I showed the fans what I was made of in my last fight. It wasn’t really what I learned (from the fight,” he said in a virtual press conference. “My goal was to display myself and what I’m capable of for the fans. I really wanted to show who I am in this division. I’m serious about becoming world champion.”
He also won’t be looking past Ocampo (34-1, 22 KO), a major underdog and relative unknown, other than a first round stoppage loss to Errol Spence Jr in a mandatory welterweight title fight in 2018.
“I think that Ocampo is a strong Mexican fighter like me, so of course he’s going to come to bang,” Fundora said. “We’ve been watching Ocampo and we’ve noticed that he’s been on a long win streak. Of course we’re not going to let it continue. We know he’s going to bring it and hopefully we can give the fans another great fight.”
“We’re both fighters who like to get inside and we’re not afraid to exchange and brawl. We give the fans what they want and I know they’re going to be happy with what they see,” Ocampo said.
“I want to show people that I’m hungrier than ever. I’m here to win the title and I’m going after it with all my might. I want to grab that title and bring it back home to Mexico where it belongs.”
Ocampo also didn’t shy away from addressing the Spence fight from four years ago, saying, “I made a rookie mistake. I got careless at the end of the first round and I promise that it won’t happen again. I’m moving forward, but I’ve become a better fighter because of it. The biggest lesson that I’ve learned is that I need to be more cerebral and that I have to think through things more. I learned that being careless for one second can cost me. It was a tough lesson to learn, but I won’t make the same mistake again.”
Ocampo added that he’s “definitely feeling underestimated,” and that he feels “stronger and faster” fighting at 154 lbs.
As for Fundora, he says what you’d expect, that his real target is undisputed champion Jermell Charlo.
“I’m the WBC mandatory and of course I have to get past Ocampo first. But our goal is to fight for the title,” he stated. “I’ve been ready for the title, but we have to stay busy. I have to take hard fights like this to continue to grow. Ocampo is a ranked fighter and he’ll help me get to where I want to be.”