Keith Thurman vs. Jan Zaveck in WBO 147 lb. title eliminator on 3/9

By Boxing News - 02/21/2013 - Comments

thurman32By Dan Ambrose: Former IBF welterweight champion Jan Zaveck (32-2, 18 KO’s) and unbeaten #4 WBA Keith Thurman (19-0, 18 KO’s) will be battling it out on March 9th in a WBO welterweight title eliminator bout at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The winner of the fight becomes the mandatory challenger for WBO 147 lb. champion Timothy Bradley.

You have to really like the 24-year-old Thurman’s chances at beating the soon to be 37-year-old Zaveck, and then beating Bradley as well if Thurman can get the fight with him.

Just because Thurman becomes Bradley’s mandatory doesn’t mean Bradley will necessarily face him. For starters, I think Bradley will drag his feet and make Thurman wait for well over a year, and then I see Bradley vacating rather than facing the much bigger 5’11” Thurman.

Zaveck, #1 WBO, #3 IBF, is the more experienced fighter compared to Thurman, but the experience may not be enough to get around the huge size, power and youth advantage that Thurman will have over the 5’7 ½” Zaveck. We’re talking junior middleweight vs. a welterweight here, and a strong junior middleweight at that in Thurman.

Zaveck had his hands full two years ago when he was stopped in the 5th round by former WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto, but Thurman is even bigger and stronger than Berto, so this is going to be a really tough fight for Zaveck.

Zaveck has fought only once in the past two years, beating Bethuel Ushona by a 12 round unanimous decision last year in March. Zaveck didn’t look good in that fight, and ended up getting badly out-worked by Ushona. If Zaveck fights like that against Thurman then he’ll get knocked out.

Thurman could wind up as one of HBO’s stars if he can get past Zaveck and shine in the process. If he can beat the better fighters at 147, Thurman could emerge as one of the top fighters at 147. All he needs is to pick up a scalp from Zaveck on March 9th, and then take Bradley’s scalp at some point, if he can get a fight with him.



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