By Dan Ambrose: Thus far, WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman (24-0, 21 KOs) has been pretty well sheltered his handlers in terms of the match-making that’s been done for him. His best opponents thus far have been Jesus Soto Karass, Jan Zaveck, Carlos Quintana, Leonard Bundu, and Diego Chaves.
Karass and Chaves both staggered Thurman, and Bundu had him on the run for 12 rounds. Thurman will be defending his title against former two division world champion Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (32-2-1, 18 KOs) on March 7th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The fight will be televised on NBC, so it could reach a lot of boxing fans.
Guerrero, 30, believes he’s going to totally expose the 26-year-old Thurman in front of the entire world on NBC.
Guerrero is going to need to walk Thurman down if he wants to land his shots, because Thurman is going to have his legs ready to go into reverse gear at all times whenever Guerrero shows a sign of wanting to land one of his shots.
While some boxing fans believe that Thurman’s unimpressive performance against Bundu in his last fight just an aberration, you can’t say it is because Thurman has frequently been ready to back off when facing guys that are willing to come forward and show some offense.
“After March 7, they can no longer say ‘Who has Keith “One Time” Thurman ever fought?,” Guerrero said on Wednesday. “This is a measuring stick to outperform Mayweather in his hometown. I think this is going to be even bigger (than the Mayweather fight) with the viewing audience that comes with NBC.”
Guerrero can’t lose this fight because he’s still trying to come back from his one-sided thrashing at the hands of Floyd Mayweather Jr in 2013. Guerrero wants to beat Thurman so he can get another crack at Mayweather or a fight against Manny Pacquiao. Losing to Thurman would be a huge setback for Guerrero.
Thurman is in a situation where he needs to not only beat Guerrero, but he has to look good and show some backbone. He can’t run from Guerrero like he did against Bundu.
Thurman was content with his performance against Bundu last time out, and that’s really troubling, because if he’s fine with just doing enough to get the victory while taking no chances, then he’s probably never going to become a star even after Mayweather and Pacquiao both retire from the sport.
“I’m very excited about it and focused and ready to go. Keith hasn’t fought nobody like me,” Guerrero said. “Mayweather is fast. On his feet and with his hands. That guy (Thurman’s last opponent Leonard Bundu) was no comparison at all. If you’re comparing stuff like that (being an Olympian and being undefeated), it’s laughable.”
Guerrero will need to show more sides to his game if he wants to beat Thurman. In Guerrero’s last fight, he slugged it out with Yoshihiro Kamegai in winning a 12 round decision last June. Guerrero had the perfect guy in front of him for him to win a war. But against Thurman, Guerrero is going to need to show fast feet in order to chase him down and make him fight him. If Guerrero just stands in one place, Thurman will likely hit and run like he always does and hell end up winning a boring safety first 12 round decision like he did against Bundu.
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