By Dan Ambrose: With no ranking in the welterweight division as of this moment, unbeaten welterweight prospect Keith Thurman (18-0, 17 KO’s) says he wants to get a title shot against either WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley or WBA World welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi next. This comes after the 23-year-old Thurman defeated the weak-punching Orlando Lora last Saturday night.
Thurman said to RingTV “Paulie Malignaggi or Tim Bradley. I would love to mix it up with them.”
I bet he would. Unfortunately their not going to waste their time against a 2nd tier prospect like Thurman, even if he’s got a powerful adviser working for him to land cushy spots like the co-feature on last Saturday’s Adrien Broner vs. Vincente Ecobedo card. Thurman is going to have to slowly his way up to the top tier, beat some of the contenders and work his way to a #1 ranking.
If he’s lucky, Thurman may get a title shot in two or three years. It’s going to take a long time though because no ones going to just fight him simply because he’s calling them out or bragging about himself. He’s not going to get a fight with a champion beating guys like Orlando Lora. It’s going to take a lot of better opponents than that for him to get a shot. That’s why it’s kind of silly to see Thurman talking about wanting to fight for the title next. It gives the impression that he doesn’t understand how boxing works.
Thurman needs to work on his speed and defense. He looked too slow of hand last Saturday and was getting hit with some shots that better fighters wouldn’t have been. If Thurman is serious about wanting to fight the likes of Bradley and/or Malignaggi, he needs to get in the gym and learn how to block punches and move his head a little. I don’t think Thurman can do anything about his lack of hand speed, but he would do well to stop moving around so much. If he’s supposed to be such a huge puncher, he needs to come after his opponents instead of running around the ring. That kind of fighting will be a godsend to a boxer who faces him. Thurman will do the work for them by staying away and just eating jabs. It’ll be too easy. Thurman needs to learn how to fight understand that 2nd tier fighters don’t get title fights just because they talk it up in the media. They get ignored.
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