By Dan Ambrose: Unbeaten Keith Thurman (19-0, 18 KO’s) made Carlos Quintana (29-4, 23 KO’s) look really bad in losing to Thurman by a 4th round TKO on the Andre Berto vs. Robert Guerrero card in Ontario, California. The win by the 5’11” Thurman showed not only his raw power, which is quite top notch, but also poise and maturity that few fighters his age have.

Thurman looks ready to take on WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Vanes Martirosyan, Miguel Cotto, Erislandy Lara and Cornelius Bundrage. I can see Thurman giving all of those guys a real run for their money with his power. Alvarez, 5’9″, isn’t a very big junior middleweight and I think Thurman would give him some problems with his height, reach and power. The same goes for the 5’7″ Cotto. He’s a lot smaller than Thurman, and he tends to break down when he gets in wars with strong fighters. Thurman might be too big and power for the likes of Cotto.

Thurman’s promoters at Golden Boy need to start putting him in with better opposition because he’s ready to start facing the best guys. Thurman said it himself that he wants the top names at 147 and 154, and he’s not just talking. He seems to mean it.

If 22-year-old Alvarez is looking to get the best fights then I think Thurman should be given the opportunity to take on the big names as well without Golden Boy slowing down his progress by putting him in with old names that can’t help him.

Thurman looked like a fighter with a lot more fights under his belt than what he currently has. The thing with Thurman is that he’s got the advantage in that he can fight at welterweight or junior middleweight. He can easily make 147 depending on whether there’s anyone there that’s willing to fight him. Right now I doubt that he’s going to get too many takers after his destruction of Quintana.