“The Towering Inferno” withstood a tough test from Ermal Hadribeaj before scoring a 12th-round stoppage in the final second of the fight to retain his WBC 154-pound title at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas on Saturday.

“If it was [Ennis or Ortiz], I'd still knock them out,” Fundora said in his post-fight press conference. “It's no different to me. These guys can't hurt me. I made a mistake before, and I fell for it, but I don't think that's ever going to happen again.”

Fundora (25-1-1, 17 KOs), The Ring’s No. 3 junior middleweight, is in line to face the winner of a soon-to-be announced unification bout between Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Josh Kelly. Ennis (36-0, 32 KOs), The Ring’s No. 1 junior middleweight and ninth pound-for-pound, is WBA and WBO champion, while Kelly (19-1-1, 9 KOs), The Ring’s No. 6 at 154 pounds, is the IBF titleholder.

While Ennis, 29, and Ortiz, 28, would likely pose much more difficult tests, Fundora doesn’t believe the success Hadribeaj had early represents what would happen if he faced one of them.

“I never felt hurt,” Fundora said. “I never felt in danger in any moment. This guy, he didn't do [anything] to me. He couldn't do [anything] to me, and I feel the same way with Boots or Vergil or any of these guys. I don't think they could hurt me. I don't think they can do anything to me in that way. I believe in my work. I believe in my talents, and we'll be going for undisputed next year.”

Ortiz (24-0, 22 KOs), The Ring’s No. 2 at junior middleweight, is expected to move up to 160 pounds for his next fight.

Hadribeaj, 32, held his own early on, using his ability to box and fight on the inside. However, Albanian southpaw began to wilt under the relentless barrage of punches from 6-foot-6 Fundora, who eventually scored a knockdown with one second of the fight remaining, forcing referee Thomas Taylor to stop the contest.