By Allan Fox: WBA World interim welterweight champion Keith Thurman (23-0, 21 KOs) has a formidable task ahead of himself this Saturday night in unbeaten #3 IBF, #3 WBC, #4 WBA Leonard Bundu (31-0-2, 11 KOs) in their 12 round fight on the Amir Khan vs. Devon Alexander card on Showtime from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Bundu, 40, is up there in age compared to the 26-year-old Thurman, but he’s still a very tough opponent due to his speed, defensive skills and excellent inside fighting ability.
Bundu has the potential of giving Thurman a really tough fight if he can get inside on him and work him over. Thurman isn’t the best inside fighter in the division, and this is going to be a real challenge for him if Bundu can get in close to work Thurman’s body.
Bundu, 5’6 ½”, lacks size in terms of height and reach, but then again so does the 5’7 ½” Thurman. There’s not much difference between the two of them in the height and reach department. The main difference is the youth and power advantage that Thurman has going for him, but it’s still unknown whether that will be an asset for him or not.
In his last fight, Bundu defeated a previously unbeaten Frankie Gavin by a 12 round split decision. The fight likely would have been more one-sided than it was had Gavin not chosen to move the entire second half of the fight. Gavin tried to trade with Bundu in the first half of the fight, but he was no match for Bundu’s body punching. In the 6th round, Bundu dropped Gavin with a left hook to the body. For the remainder of the fight, Gavin shoved and ran in order to keep from getting knocked out.
Thurman is going to need to fight defensively if he wants to win this fight, because it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to score a knockout over Bundu. If he’s unable to keep Bundu from getting close to him then we could see Thurman get worked over with shots to the body. Thurman’s not faced a body puncher like Bundu before and this could be a whole new experience that he’s not ready for.
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