Bundu also represented his native Sierra Leone at the 2nd AIBA African 2004 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Gaborone, where he won bronze in welterweight division.

During this time Bundu would pick up many regional championships, including the vacant European Union welterweight title on 13 March 2009, in a unanimous decision (UD) over Frank Haroche Horta.

[citation needed] Later in the year, on 13 December, Bundu challenged unsuccessfully for his first major world championship in his first visit to the United States.

[5] Later that year, on 21 August, Bundu travelled to the US for a third time to face Errol Spence Jr., another undefeated prospect, in what was an eliminator for the IBF welterweight title.

The first three rounds were fast-paced and competitive, with Bundu utilising his pressure fighting style and feints, although his punch output would slow in the fourth as Spence began using consistent combinations and lateral movement.