Whenever Sebastian Fundora and Chordale Booker were forced to stand together before the cameras it immediately became a battle of a different kind: the fight before the fight, if you will. 

Long before the pair wore gloves and were permitted to fight each other on Saturday, Fundora and Booker were both doing their best to fight the urge to laugh. With one of them looking up, and the other looking down, these so-called head-to-heads would often descend into comedy once one of the two boxers broke eye contact and the other followed, relieved to now be able to laugh and acknowledge the absurdity of it all.

In truth, the majority of Fundora’s previous head-to-heads have tended to go the same way. Whether it is amusing to him to feel so tall, or it is amusing to his opponent to feel so small, it is sometimes tough to take a fight seriously when the difference in height is so pronounced and the image of boxers going head-to-head is so different from what we, as an audience, are used to seeing. 

In the case of Fundora, a super-welterweight who stands six feet six, laughter is par for the course. Neither he nor his opponent are doing anything wrong by making light of things and, besides, Fundora is not the first fighter to offer the boxing world a new look and a fresh perspective. Plenty, in fact, have taken what we might consider traditional or conventional and then subverted it to good effect, demonstrating how sometimes the breaking of rules, or doing things differently, can lead to success in a sport happy to embrace individuality. Some fighters rip up the rulebook and invent new paths to victory and new ways to fight, whereas others, like Fundora, simply use their extreme physical gifts to make us question what we are seeing in the ring on fight night. 

Here, from heavyweight to featherweight, are a selection of other fighters – all active-ish – whose look, or style, flies in the face of what we expect from a typical professional boxer. 

 

Tyson Fury

Heavyweight; 34-2-1 (24)

The quirk: Peculiar enough on account of his height (6 '9), what makes – or perhaps made – Fury all the more peculiar is his ability to stand taller than any heavyweight in the division and yet still demonstrate the hand and foot speed of a man much smaller. Not only that, often people would look at his physical shape and assume he would quickly tire, only to then find themselves surprised when this “big fat man” – his words, not mine – was fighting as hard in the final rounds as he was in the early ones. 

The impact: Until making the acquaintance of Oleksandr Usyk, conqueror of pretty much every style going, Fury was having things all his own way as heavyweight champion. He had won 34 pro fights and had a habit of fighting in various styles depending on the opponent. He could, if that way inclined, use his height and reach to box on the back foot, or he could instead go forward and use his size and weight more as a weapon, as shown against Deontay Wilder in the pair’s 2020 rematch. 

Deontay Wilder

Heavyweight; 43-4-1 (42)

The quirk: Though very much a modern-day heavyweight in terms of height (Wilder is all of 6 '6), the “Bronze Bomber” rarely weighed more than 225lbs during his reign as WBC heavyweight champion and his bamboo legs were the kind you would expect to see on a lightweight, not a hard-hitting heavyweight. In fact, more than just a hard-hitting heavyweight, many will tell you that Wilder is the hardest-punching heavyweight of the modern era, despite him often being outweighed by opponents and despite his legs suggesting anything but knockout power. 

The impact: For as long as he had the air of invincibility, and a seemingly endless run of knockouts, Wilder was getting away with everything as WBC heavyweight champion. Even if outboxed, or losing round after round, there was still a belief, on both his part and ours, that his power would override any technical deficiencies and would be enough to tilt the fight back in his favour precisely when a tilting was needed. Eventually, however, Wilder would meet his match in the form of Tyson Fury and after that, once the bubble had been burst, the other heavyweights he encountered were all a little less afraid.  

Zhilei Zhang

Heavyweight; 27-3-1 (22)

The quirk: Strange though it is to watch a 6 '6 southpaw thriving in their forties, what makes things stranger in the case of Zhang is that the 6' 6 southpaw in question hails from China. Hardly a boxing hotbed, and especially not when it comes to heavyweights, Zhang is an anomaly in every respect. His style, which suits his physique, is all about range and timing and patience and often he will lull opponents into a false sense of security before striking them, cobra-like, with what he calls the “Big Bang”.

The impact: Owing to either age, or a general lack of stamina, Zhang has struggled in recent times to land the “Big Bang” and therefore win fights. Recently he was stopped in six rounds by Agit Kabayel and before that he was outworked over 12 by Joseph Parker, whom he dropped twice yet lacked the energy to finish. In between those losses Zhang did manage to stop Deontay Wilder in five rounds, but the Zhang we saw wrecking the reputation of Joe Joyce, not once but twice, now seems consigned to the past.  

Joe Joyce

Heavyweight; 16-3 (15)

The quirk: Known as “The Juggernaut”, Joyce received this nickname less because of his size (6 '6 and 280lbs on a good day) and more because of how he uses it. Knowing only one way to fight, and knowing only one way to travel, Joyce is famous for taking one to give one and never doubting his ability to grind down his opponent, juggernaut-like. It makes for a hard watch at times, but still Joyce keeps going and going, impervious to pain.

The impact: Having turned pro relatively late, Joyce’s career was never going to be a long one, even if self-preservation had at any stage entered his thoughts. As it happened, Joyce’s style led to a brief period in which he was a feared and apparently indestructible heavyweight before it then came back to bite him when the punches he was content to take suddenly caught up with him. As swift as it was inevitable, the man ultimately responsible for Joyce’s demise was Zhilei Zhang, who found Joyce a target impossible to miss in consecutive fights and proved that nobody, not even “The Juggernaut”, is indestructible. 

Gilberto Ramirez

Cruiserweight; 47-1 (30)

The quirk: To hear that there is a Mexican cruiserweight champion should be all that anyone requires to understand why Gilberto Ramirez stands out from the crowd. After all, Mexico, although a breeding ground for great champions in the lower weights, is hardly a country synonymous with large fighters, let alone cruiserweights. Yet, in Ramirez, a southpaw who made his name at super-middleweight, they now have one. 

The impact: The career of Ramirez is an interesting one to analyse, if only to see how he has used different gifts at different times. As a super-middleweight, for instance, “Zurdo” was typically bigger than opponents and had a propensity to bully them with this size and make them feel the weight of his pressure. Then, as a light-heavyweight, he came unstuck when Dmitry Bivol, arguably the sport’s finest technician, took his size away from him and forced him to dance to his beat. Now, at cruiserweight, Ramirez will, he accepts, be the smaller man a lot of the time, yet feels that his speed of hand and foot has travelled up from super-middleweight and can therefore be used to his advantage in the 200lbs division. 

Hamzah Sheeraz

Middleweight; 21-0-1 (17)

The quirk: The image of a 6 '3 middleweight is not a common one in boxing, yet Sheeraz has put his considerable frame to good use so far in his 22-fight pro career. All shoulders, legs, and arms, his biggest test until recently was simply getting his body down to the required weight (160lbs) and ensuring he still had enough energy on fight night to capitalise on his physical advantages.

The impact: For 21 fights, Sheeraz had little difficulty – both making weight and beating middleweights. He had a tough time at super-welterweight, when almost coming unstuck against Bradley Skeete in 2021, but ever since moving to middleweight has gone from strength to strength. That was until Carlos Adames revealed to Sheeraz the difference between British/European level and world class in February. That night Sheeraz found a WBC champion adept at negating his height and reach advantages and was fortunate in the end to escape Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with a draw. 

Emanuel Navarrete

Super-featherweight; 39-2-1 (32)

The quirk: Often off-balance, and often prone to crossing his feet, Mexico’s Navarrete is nevertheless an effective and awkward brawler whom nobody ever has a fun time fighting. With a stance that sometimes travels from southpaw to orthodox halfway through a combination, Navarrete is as complex as he is straightforward and as confusing as he is dangerous. He is also relentless and won’t stop throwing punches until he is told to do so. 

The impact: A world champion at three weights (super-bantamweight, featherweight, and super-featherweight), Navarrete’s effectiveness has never been in doubt. Indeed, it was only when he stepped up to lightweight last May, and lost against Denys Berinchyk, that he surrendered his physical edge and soon realised he had bitten off more than he could chew. Since then, he has returned to super featherweight and was last seen stopping Oscar Valdez in six rounds. 

Masanori Rikiishi

Super-featherweight; 16-1 (11)

The quirk: Not unlike his countryman Masayoshi Nakatani, who also looked down on opponents, Japan’s Rikiishi is a 5 '10 super-featherweight who pushes the pace and tries to suffocate whoever is standing in front of him. To make things just that bit trickier for opponents, he is also a southpaw. 

The impact: Since losing in just his third pro fight, Rikiishi has climbed to 16-1 and in May fights for his first world title (in a vacant IBF super-featherweight title fight against Eduardo Nunez). His big performance to date was a come-from-behind stoppage of Michael Magnesi last year in Italy, when Rikiishi, down on all three cards, somehow managed to prevail with only 26 seconds left. 

Albert Batyrgaziev

Super-featherweight; 12-0 (8)

The quirk: Although “normal” in terms of stature, what sets Batyrgaziev apart is his style and the way he throws certain shots. This is all the more intriguing, too, on account of the fact that Batyrgaziev is a decorated amateur who won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. His pedigree is therefore not in question, and yet still Batyrgaziev carries quirks and a uniqueness to his style few would expect from a well-schooled amateur. Heavy on the front foot, he paws with punches, even occasionally slapping with them, and his back hand – that is, his southpaw left – travels along the widest and weirdest trajectory one can imagine. 

The impact: Unbeaten in 12 pro fights, Batyrgaziev is doing everything right so far. Even if it looks wrong at times, his style is a problem for opponents and a puzzle none of them have to date been able to solve. Of his 12 victims, eight were stopped inside the distance, and Jono Carroll, arguably the biggest name on Batyrgaziev’s record, tapped out in nine rounds last July. 

Rafael Espinoza

Featherweight; 26-0 (22)

The quirk: Standing at 6 '1, Espinoza is a Mexican featherweight accustomed to towering over most of the opponents with whom he shares a ring. Better yet, in the Mexican featherweight tradition, he can, despite his size, fight when he needs to fight, and box when he needs to box, and is able to keep opponents at bay with either his jab or the power he produces – he has 22 knockouts in 26 fights – when throwing something off the back of that punch. 

The impact: After campaigning predominantly in Mexico for the first 10 years of his pro career, Espinoza won the WBO featherweight title when travelling to America to beat Robeisy Ramirez via split decision in 2023. The next time they boxed, Espinoza left no doubt, stopping Ramirez in six rounds to retain his WBO belt and continue his country’s rich history of quality nine-stone champions.  

Nick Ball

Featherweight; 22-0-1 (13)

The quirk: Standing at just 5 '2, Ball, the WBA featherweight champion, is one of the smallest professional boxers on the planet. Far from a hindrance, however, Ball’s lack of size allows him to roam and attack opponents from a unique vantage point – almost coming up from underground – and has helped him shock taller opponents with punches they failed to see coming. 

The impact: As the reigning WBA featherweight champion, Ball is clearly riding high at the moment, and the only blip on his 23-fight unbeaten record is a draw with the gangly Rey Vargas in 2024. In that fight, Ball discovered the limitations of his size and style for six rounds – when comfortably outboxed by the Mexican – before then coming into his own in the fight’s second half, when his aggression and stamina overwhelmed Vargas and should have perhaps been the difference between them on the scorecards. Since then, Ball has beaten Ray Ford, Ronny Rios and TJ Doheny and has very much grown as a champion – reputationally, that is, rather than physically.