2023 has been off to a great start but, if it’s been missing one thing so far, that thing is unpredictability.

The chalk has been strong through the first quarter of the year.

Matchmaking has been on point, giving fans high quality fights that went largely the way they were expected to in terms of results but providing drama along the way. This past Saturday, we got more of the good matchmaking…and we got some serious shakeups in two divisions.

At Jr. featherweight, we have a new unified titlist and if anyone had Marlon Tapales: two division beltholder on their bingo card, congratulations. Tapales used an excellent start and smart game plan to build a big lead on two judges scorecards, then held off undefeated Murodjon Akhmadaliev down the stretch for the biggest win of his career.

It wasn’t as stunning as the other big Saturday upset.

Sebastian Fundora established himself as one of the top contenders to Jr. middleweight king Jermell Charlo last year in a war with Erickson Lubin. Fundora needed only to keep winning to maintain his place as interim (read: mandatory by any other name) to the winner of the upcoming Charlo-Tim Tszyu fight.

Fundora didn’t keep winning. 

After pitching a veritable shutout through six rounds, Fundora’s penchant for taking big shots finally caught up to him. Brian Mendoza connected with a left hook in round seven and Fundora was all but out on his feet. Two more big shots finished the job and the double ricochet Fundora’s head did off the floor gave an assist as well. 

Mendoza seizes Fundora’s place in line and Jr. middleweight has another memorable moment in its ongoing, entertaining round robin.

Futures: Mendoza won his third in a row since a loss to Jesus Ramos and his last two show how quick stock can rise. Mendoza stopped former unified titlist Jeison Rosario and now the undefeated Fundora and assumes the position as next in line (the WBC line anyways). The victory isn’t just big for Mendoza but also for Jesus Ramos. Ramos won big last weekend over Joey Spencer and won big head-to-head versus Mendoza. 

Jr. middleweight got deeper on Saturday both in the ring and by proxy.

The upset at Jr. featherweight is one of the feel-good stories of the year so far. Tapales, while rated in the top ten in the world by all major press outlets, was largely seen as a step for Akhmadaliev coming in. Now Tapales is in position to face the winner of Stephen Fulton-Naoya Inoue with a chance to be an undisputed champion. There are sanctioning body mandatory issues for Tapales to consider but that’s a hell of a place to be for the fifteen-year veteran.

Akhmadaliev has time to recover and losing belts could be good for him in the long run if he can turn this into more activity. Akhmadaliev became a twice-a-year fighter before his tenth pro start and he’s not the sort of talent that can get by on such a limited schedule. More ring time under real fire would only sharpen him and he can learn from this loss and stay a factor in the division.   

Cliff’s Notes…

The favorite-still-wins-but-what-a-fight formula was still in effect this weekend in Japan…Kenshiro remains the Jr. flyweight king but Anthony Olascuaga gave the sort of effort that marks him one to watch going forward. On short notice, the 5-0 challenger gave one of the best in the world a real go and their seventh round was one of the best frames of the year so far..Shakur Stevenson looked as good as ever against Shuichiro Yoshino but in this low activity era it almost felt like a waste of time for a fighter who will likely only go twice. Stevenson will want to win a lightweight title first but, if Devin Haney beats Vasyl Lomachenko and exits to Jr. welterweight, Stevenson’s best options may all be at Jr. welterweight sooner than later. Should he be looking to move with that tide? It’s worth a thought…Jesse Rodriguez was workmanlike in capturing a flyweight belt with a busted jaw. The best fight in the division is immediately Rodriguez-Sunny Edwards and fans should cross their fingers to see that one.

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, a member of the International Boxing Research Organization, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com