What to do with Keith Thurman?

By Boxing.Legends - 03/18/2014 - Comments

thurman32I really consider Keith Thurman as “the legitimate threat” in the welterweight division.  There is some speculation that he is an untested hyped-up fighter.  This may be true, but the facts are no one really wants to fight him or try to expose him.  There seems to be some collaborative efforts in place where everyone has a reason not to fight Thurman. 

Many fighters are quick to discredit him to avoid a fight against him.  Whether the excuses are reasonable or not, here is list of fighters that confirmed they will not, do not, or in the past avoided fighting Keith Thurman: Marcos “El Chino” Maidana, Paulie “The Magic Man” Malignaggi, Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero, Shawn “Showtime” Porter, and Luis Collazo.  I have yet to hear or read any news indicating Keith Thurman is avoiding anyone.  Instead, he is calling them all out.

Unfortunately, many boxing fans use singular moments of weakness to quickly discredit a boxer.  For example, claims of a weak chin caused by Thurman getting hurt by a clean shot in the first round against Jesus Soto Karass who has six first round knockouts on his record and 18 overall knockouts.  Even Shane Mosley landed a devastating right hand against Mayweather which clearly hurt him early in round two.  They both should be given credit for having a strong chin for not going down.  The point is anyone can get hit hard and clean, but it does not mean they are vulnerable or exposed.  It takes a champion mentality to overcome such a blow and win.  

Thurman deserves credit for recovering within seconds and convincingly winning the round.  He also took the same shot a couple of times during the fight and he did not show any signs of weakness.  The truth is he dismantled Karass for nine rounds before knocking him out.  People also want to give Maidana credit for knocking out Karass one round earlier than Thurman, but their fight was an even war decided by whoever landed the finishing blow and not a one-sided beating like Thurman handed him.

Thurman is undefeated at 23 and 0, with a 91 percent knockout ratio not including his no contest fight that ended in the first round early in his career, and he has outclassed the only two former champions Dejan Zavec in a lopsided twelve round unanimous win and a fourth round TKO over Carlos Quintana at super welterweight.  He decided to fight Malignaggi’s mandatory Diego Chavez that was also classified like him as an unknown high-risk low-reward power puncher with virtually an identical and undefeated record at the time.  Both known for having tremendous power, it was a close fight during the early rounds contributed by their brawling styles, but Thurman showed us what separates him from all these brawlers.  He was able to out box him, fight off the back foot, paced himself, kept his composure, and knocked him out.  He was Broner’s mandatory, but Broner fought Maidana instead.  He is now Maidana’s mandatory, but he is fighting Mayweather instead.  It is interesting to note that if Mayweather wins and decides to vacate his WBC welterweight belt in order not to fight his mandatory Manny Pacquiao, Thurman will be Mayweather’s mandatory at welterweight.

Golden Boy clearly has the resources to make him a star, but it appears for the time being, they are satisfied feeding him journeymen or fighters past their prime.  It is unfortunate that we are less than six weeks before his next yet scheduled fight on April 26 and there is no mention of a possible opponent.  Golden Boy is only hurting this young man’s career by feeding him opponents that boxing fans will quickly and appropriately discredit.  Thurman can take punch, has shown an ability to adapt under pressure, can brawl and box, has power and stamina, an undefeated record, and wins by knockouts.  Golden Boy should line up three good fighters for Thurman this year because we saw what he can do against B level fighters, and the boxing world deserves to see what would happen if he fights some of the so called elites.  What more does he have to do?  He is ranked number 1 as the interim WBA Champion , unexposed, undefeated, he does not avoid any fighter, high knockout percentage, and shows skills that can trouble the majority of the opponents mentioned.



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