Sebastian Fundora, ranked No. 2 by The Ring in the weight class, plans to prove he’s the best of them all when he defends his WBC title against Keith Thurman on March 28 to headline a PBC on Prime Video PPV at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Although the 6-foot, 5½ inch Fundora has never given up a size advantage, he still perceives the past-his-prime Thurman a tall order in his quest to plow through the pecking order.

“Beating this former world champion will make a big statement,” Fundora said during a recent media workout. “I still feel like I’m at the top of the division. I don’t think we’ve lost any momentum [with my hand injury]. We just had to reschedule [from the original October 25 date]. We’re not hiding from anybody. This is gonna remind everyone that we are at the top.”

Fundora (23-1-1, 15 KOs) has an opportunity to grab the division by its horns in the Thurman (31-1, 23 KOs) fight now that the bout between Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Jaron Ennis is off.

Ortiz appears to be sidelined for the foreseeable future because of his legal entanglement with Golden Boy. Ennis, meanwhile, is moving on to a May return and is eyeing WBA and WBO champion Xander Zayas or IBF titleholder Josh Kelly.

If the underestimated Fundora beats Thurman as expected – he’s a -380 betting favorite – “The Towering Inferno” can fan the flames for a long-planned title unification fight or move on to other lucrative opportunities within the PBC universe in Errol Spence Jr. and Jermell Charlo.

“I’m fighting one of the best fighters of this era in Thurman,” said Fundora. “Keith’s trash talk is good for TV, that’s what I’ll say. He’s always been the bad guy going into a fight because of that, and he backs it up a lot. But this time he’s not gonna be able to back it up.

“You’re gonna see the king of 154 do his thing all over again.”

Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan.