For Gabriela Fundora, boxing came naturally, at an early age as a family affair.
Florida’s Fundora, 22, has risen to the top echelon of the sport and currently holds the IBF flyweight title. On Saturday, she will come up against WBC, WBA and WBO 112-pound titleholder Gabriela Celeste Alaniz, 28, of Argentina in an undisputed championship at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas.
Fundora, 14-0 (6 KOs), described her mother, Monique, as her role model.
“What inspired me into boxing was my mom,” Fundora told BoxingScene. “I was always watching her in the ring at the time. She was boxing too so I was just watching her do her thing, getting all these fights, and that kind of got me into it.
“And I wanted to hit people in the face, too, so from there, the rest is history.”
Fundora achieved her dream of becoming a world champion in June last year, inflicting a fifth round KO defeat on Arely Mucino. After two successful defenses against Christina Cruz and Daniela Asenjo, Fundora opted to face Alaniz, 15-1 (6 KOs), for the undisputed championship.
Ahead of the fight, Fundora says she anticipates a thrilling encounter ahead of a history-making bout.
“She’s the wonder woman,” Fundora said of Alaniz. “I’ve seen her last fight, but I don’t really say too much about that. I let my coach do the job.
“We’ve been working hard. This is a big fight, so we’re gonna have to be very strong. Everything was smooth and camp was great. I just know I have to train hard and focus on what’s in front of me.
“I’m excited. This is gonna be historic and it’s gonna be historic for a lot of reasons. We’ve got the youngest male or female undisputed champion, I’ll be the first in my division. There’s just so much history going on, and it’s an amazing opportunity.”
Alaniz managed to avenge a painful decision loss to Marlen Esparza in July last year, winning a split decision in a rematch nine months later. Fundora is preparing for the best of Alaniz.
“I’m just prepared with everything in me,” Fundora continued. “I always hope for a knockout and in every round, I’m gonna try to go for that knockout but I can’t predict when it will come. This is boxing and anything can happen,” said Fundora.
When asked what it means to be an undisputed champion, Fundora said “Oh it’s everything. This is the goal of every boxer and this is something that we trained for since we’re little kids so it is everything.”
Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at bernardneequaye@gmail.com.