Keith Thurman, Boxing’s new Bright Star!

By Leigh K. Seto - 07/01/2016 - Comments

Image: Keith Thurman, Boxing's new Bright Star!

By Leigh K. Seto: As a long time fan of the sweet science and somewhat of a historian of the sport, I was pleased to see the Premier Boxing Champions match up last Saturday night on June 25 between WBA welterweight champion Keith “One Time” Thurman (27-0, 22 KOs) and Shawn Porter (26-2-1, 16 KOs) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The fight was televised on Showtime Boxing on CBS. It’s rare to see two fighters that are on the rise going toe to toe with each other and taking challenges that other top fighters seem to avoid. The Thurman vs Porter delivered on the hype an we were all watching.

Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter both have an old school style of fighting. With more engaged assaults which captivate and inspire their audience. Like the millions of viewers I was glued to my seat avoiding the occasional fridge trips and idle conversation this fight was exciting from the opening bell.

By the end of the fight, I don’t think anyone really knew who won. At that point it was inconsequential because everyone won. The fight fans saw a match up of 2 exciting fighters, PBC had their highest rated event and the 2 fighters gained respect from their peers and earned fans.

The aftermath of this fight may not be so obvious to most. But Keith Thurman has now posted his second 3 million viewer fight. Other fighters can no longer deny his marketability or fan base. He will be a PPV fighter soon enough so we should enjoy his free fights while we can. Whether you are a fan of his or not, you can not deny his cross over appeal. We can only hope he continues to challenge himself with fights against Danny Garcia, Kell Brook and Errol Spence in future.

Moving forward, I just hope Thurman’s adviser Al Haymon continues giving us cards worth watching. He has made questionable match-ups in the past, this one was a fight for the ages.