By Dan Ambrose: Unbeaten junior middleweight prospect Keith Thurman (19-0, 18 KO’s) has been selected by RingTV.com as the prospect of the year for 2012 for his wins over Carlos Quintana, Orlando Lora, Brandon Hoskins and Christopher Fernandez. Thurman, 24, has looked good as of late, knocking out his last eight opponents dating back to November 2009. His knockout of Quintana was especially impressive, as he took him out in only four rounds.
The one drawback to Thurman’s game is his lack of skills. He seems to load up on everything he throws, and doesn’t seem to show a lot of other things you’d like to see in a fighter like a good jab, speed, varying his power, moving his head, blocking punching. When Thurman eventually faces someone that can handle his power, he’s going to have problems, especially if his opponent also has good power.
He’s been fighting on HBO against pretty poor opposition and it’s going to be interesting to see if he can make it to the next level against someone good like Vanes Martirosyan, Alfredo Angulo and Saul Alvarez, not that any of those guys will be facing him anytime soon. Thurman is probably two to three years away from getting any of those guys to fight him because they’re not going to volunteer to fight him due to his power and size.
Thurman is kind of sloppy and he throws his shots like he’s hitting a pile of bricks with a sledgehammer. He’s not looking to place his punches or throw with any kind of form. It’s just pure power and hope for the best. He throws well to the body, but that’s not going to save him against someone that can catch him with head shots with his wide open defense.
What his promoters should be doing is looking to keep his really busy while at the same time getting him a good trainer that can teach him some form because he’s just too ragged and crude right now for him to be put in the ring with someone that knows how to fight like Alvarez.
Thurman will be fighting next on March 9th against an opponent still to be determined at the Barclays Center, in Brooklyn, New York, USA.
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