Thurman and Berto back in action in July against separate opponents in doubleheader

By Boxing News - 03/23/2013 - Comments

thurman43By Allan Fox: Undefeated #1 WBO welterweight contender Keith Thurman (20-0, 18 KO’s) and former IBF/WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto (28-2, 22 KO’s) are expected back in the ring in July against separate opponents in a doubleheader on Showtime, according to RingTV.

Thurman, 24, needs to stay busy while he waits for his shot against WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley or whoever holds the bout by the time the WBO forces the issue. Bob Arum of Top Rank will have to make a decision at some point in the future whether he’d rather have the WBO champion defend his title against Thurman or vacate it altogether to avoid fighting the Golden Boy promoted Thurman.

The bad thing about vacating the WBO title is that it narrows the options for his fighters if he’s going to have them vacate titles rather than fight a Golden Boy fighter. For this reason Arum will have to think hard about whether he wants to have his fighters steer around Golden Boy guys or if he’ll trust them enough to let them take the hard fights.

I think in this case Arum will be smart about it and have either Bradley, Rios or holds the belt from his stable give up the WBO title because it’s too dangerous of a fight for them to take on a guy like Thurman.

Thurman defeated former IBF welterweight champion Jan Zaveck by a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision earlier this month. Thurman looked good in pounding out the decision against good fighter.

Berto hasn’t fought since losing to Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero by a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision last November. Berto was roughed up and overwhelmed by Guerrero’s high work rate. Berto tinkered with the Mayweather shoulder roll in the fight, and he looked like he had no clue in how to use it. Guerrero seemed to figure out early that Berto had no business using the shoulder roll, and was able to take advantage of that to win an easy 12 round decision.



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