Grieving Ferguson retains Misfits middleweight title with second-round stoppage of late replacement Sebie

Tony Ferguson retained his Misfits Boxing middleweight title with a second-round stoppage of Mahmood Sebie at the James L. Knight Center in Miami on Saturday, delivering a gutsy if uneven performance in the co-main event of the latest Misfits card. Ferguson revealed after the fight that he had been dealing with the death of his mother in the weeks leading up to the bout.

Sebie was not the original opponent. Former soccer player Kenzo Biyong had been scheduled to challenge Ferguson for the belt but withdrew just days before the event, with Sebie — a former Olympic wrestler and MMA fighter — stepping in on short notice.

Ferguson controlled the opening round with his jab and forward pressure, and nearly ended matters early when a sharp right hand dropped Sebie before the bell. Sebie beat the count, but came out for the second round with urgency, landing shots that briefly put Ferguson on the back foot. The momentum shift proved short-lived. Ferguson regrouped, backed Sebie into a corner, and unloaded a flurry of punches that forced the referee to step in.

Speaking candidly in the ring afterwards, Ferguson acknowledged that his performance reflected his emotional state. Austin McBroom had entered the ring to call for a title fight, and even agreed with McBroom’s blunt assessment that the display had been difficult to watch.

“I’m gonna be real with you, I don’t know what the f*ck it was either,” Ferguson said. “I was in the back, still dazed. It was kind of like in a dream state, trying to figure everything out. Literally, I lost my mom a couple of months ago, so I’m just battling through everything I possibly can right now. That shit is not going to happen when we fight.”

The card was headlined by the Misfits Boxing debut of former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo, with Ferguson’s title defence serving as the co-main event. The win extends Ferguson’s run in the boxing crossover circuit and sets up a potential clash with McBroom for the Misfits middleweight belt.