By Jaime Ortega: Keith Thurman is the definition of a complete boxer. Thurman has speed, power, footwork and great ring IQ. He knows how to break down his opponents and slowly impose his will on the ring. Thurman masterfully out-boxed Danny Garcia disabling his attack and also showed composure and discipline against Shawn Porter. Thurman courageously took on Garcia and Porter in their primes and didn’t make the boxing world wait.
Yet, the early victory that defined Thurman’s career was against the then undefeated boxer Diego Chaves. Chaves is one of the most underrated boxers in the welterweight division and one of the most difficult opponents to crack. Brandon Rios was losing against Chaves, and got lucky the ref disqualified the Argentinian boxer after much controversy. Chaves also rumbled with Timothy Bradley and gave him all sorts of trouble, the fight ended on a draw. Thurman took Chaves on his prime and knocked him out.
Thurman took on dangerous veterans like Luis Collazo and Orlando Lora and KO’d both of them using beautiful boxing skills. He also retired Julio Diaz and gave Leonard Bundu his first loss. All in all, Thurman has shown he can beat veterans and young lions in their prime.
Errol Spence Jr.
Errol Spence Jr. is consider the new boogieman of the welterweight division and the man to replace Floyd Mayweather Jr. He pretty much, steamrolled Bundu and Chris Algeri without much difficulty. What some people fail to acknowledge is that Algeri’s true weight class belongs in the 140lb division, and Spence weighted as much as 170lbs the day of the fight – -the weight difference was too overwhelming for Algeri to leave any room for controversy. Spence really belongs in the 154-160lbs division, he is not a true welterweight and his frame shows it.
Spence has a hypothetical edge over Thurman because he is the bigger man; however, Thurman has the technique, ring versatility and power to knockout Spence. Spence won’t walk Thurman down like he did with Algeri or Bundu because he would get countered every time he commits a mistake. Errol Spence is ‘not’ Floyd Mayweather Jr., he has defensive flaws that only elite boxers can expose. Thurman likes to set traps and use his uppercuts – his biggest and most underrated weapon – and would severely test Spence’s chin. Spence versus Thurman would be a great fight, but a fight of mental attrition rather than a physical fight. People forget, Pacquiao butter-milked the same opponents Floyd faced and it looked as if he was about to destroy Floyd, but the day of the fight Pacquiao’s aggression was easily contained by Floyd’s jab. Thurman showed against Garcia that he can shutdown dangerous flatfooted boxers using bilateral movement, and Spence looks somewhat flatfooted. Everyone implies that Spence will land shots on Thurman without getting counter, but Spence will get hit by Thurman during their exchanges and boxing fans will find out if Spence is really ‘the truth’ or another ‘Luis Collazo’.
Many Pacquiao
Pacquiao versus Thurman would be a tough fight. Make no mistake Pacquiao might not be the knockout machine he once used to be, but he remains dangerous, quick and awkward. Many skeptics thought Jessy Vargas would upset and retire Pacquiao, but they underestimated the skillset of the Filipino slugger. Vargas used the jab exceptionally well to keep the Filipino at bay, but Pacquiao quickly adapted and started to rush inside to eventually expose Varga’s defensive jab leading to a beautiful early knockdown. Pacquiao is no longer the careless boxer who once widely opened up his defense while launching a devastating attack – no instead, he is now a complete boxer, and the only boxer to successfully counter Mayweather – a hard achievement.
Thurman likes to move his feet a lot and outplay his opponents, but against Pacquiao it might not work effectively. In fact, body physics favor Pacquiao against Thurman, who being the smaller boxer will show better foot movement especially during counterattacks. It will be hard for Thurman to stop Pacquiao’s explosiveness without receiving punishment. Pacquiao’s defense is heavily underrated and he knows how to slip punches well while countering in motion. Unless Thurman knockouts Pacquaio, Pacquiao wins via unanimous decision.
Kell Brook
Kell Brook remains undefeated in the welterweight division despite clearly losing against GGG. Brook’s body punch power is underrated and so is his boxing skills. His clearest upset was against Shawn Porter, and that is the only true reference boxing analyst have to pair him up against other elite welterweights. The problem is that styles make fights and Porter’s pressure style might work well against Brook, but it doesn’t mean it will work against Thurman. Thurman has superior feet movement and knows how to counter boxers while he gets countered. Brook’s brilliance came against boxers without pedigree, imposing his rhythm against class ‘c’ boxers like Frankie Gavin — but he will have a harder time against Spence, Garcia, Pacquiao and Thurman.
Brook might not have ducked boxers like Chaves, Vargas and Bundu, but by not fighting them he clearly hid his head from the storm. Chaves and Vargas would have presented Brook with harsh competition to help us estimate his caliber. His lack of fights against American boxers on his resume possesses a big question mark on his resume. Thurman has been tested against a wider variety of boxing styles and I truly suspect he can easily adapt to Brook’s style and outbox him. Yet, akin Spence, Brook doesn’t really belong in the welterweight division, he belongs at 154lbs; the weight difference could play an advantage factor in favor of Brook if he were to face Thurman. One must also consider that if Brook wasn’t able to knockdown Porter, it will be somehow hard to knockout Thurman.
Tewa Kiram
Do not sleep on this boxer, I doubt Thurman will. He hasn’t faced any American boxers yet, but his body is perfectly built for boxing; big upper body with big shoulders and long stocky arms that naturally protect his chin. Normally stocky boxers move around the ring like drunk sailors and have a hard time timing punches, but not Kiram. Kiram is undefeated, and arguably has the fastest jab in welterweight division and up; in fact, his jab almost always lands when he strikes. Kiram likes to move in range and fights on the inside, when he gets inside it’s hard to stop his punches and he throws hard. Outside of Filipino and Japanese boxers, Asian boxers in general tend to be overrated scams. Kiram is the result of American influence in Thailand and a new strain of Thai boxers — he is now a belt contender and soon a mandatory for Thurman, if he is not already.
Thurman has everything on his side to beat Kiram, but it would be interesting to watch how Thurman is able to actually deal with Kiram’s speed. As I stated before, Kiram’s body makes it hard for anyone to trade with him, and his bulky shoulders naturally cover his chin while he stands with a high guard. It would be dangerous for anyone in the welterweight division to trade with Kiram because he throws fast hard 1-2 combinations that could upset anyone, and I suspect he will upset a few elite boxers soon. Thurman would not land body punches against Kiram because it would be risky, he would have to outwork him slowly and set many traps; Kiram in my personal opinion and based on his body type would give Thurman lots of trouble — he is a tricky fighter.
Timothy Bradley
Timothy Bradley is a veteran with good boxing pedigree. Bradley is fearless and relentless. He chopped -off Marquez like a three way split quesadilla in Taco Bell. Chaves gave Bradley lots of trouble, and he boxed and slugged the Argentinian on a battle of sheer courage that ended in a draw. There is no doubt that Bradley has the experience and speed to upset someone like Thurman.
Thurman versus Bradley would present an array of different questions. Bradley presents a similar flair than Porter, but he is more complete overall; he is a high pressure fighter who likes to box and move while striking. In that regard, after fighting Pacquiao multiple times, he has also adapted similar technical moves from the Filipino legend. Thurman hasn’t knocked down anyone in three fights, and Bradley after his life and death experience with Provodnikov showed toughness. Bradley can take punches and win rounds boxing. Like Pacquiao, Thurman would have to knockout Bradley in order to win. If Bradley survived against Chaves, Pacquiao and Provodnikov who also hit hard, we could hypothetically survive against Thurman — if Thurman decides to fight him akin Garcia using his legs a lot. If Thurman doesn’t knockout Bradley, I could see Bradley winning on spit decision.
Terrence Crawford
The man at 140lbs is now considering a move to 147lbs. Crawford is the definition of timing and placing shots. He is the man to beat at Jr. Welterweight, and unless he faces Mickey Garcia or Danny Garcia, he will probably vacate his division soon and try to conquer the 147lbs. I wasn’t too impressed when Crawford defeated Yuriokis Gamboa because Crawford was clearly the bigger man. I wasn’t also too impressed when he mowed down one dimensional Viktor Postol – everyone in the boxing gym I attend new it was easy work for Crawford. But Crawford’s real test will come in the talent pool infested welterweight division. If Crawford comes to 147lbs and snatches belts, my hat will go off to him.
Thurman against Crawford would present an interesting matchup. Crawford has never faced any of the elite boxers in the welterweight division. I believe Crawford could beat most of the welterweights, but definitely not all. How will Crawford pair against Spence, Bradley, Pacquiao, Brook, Porter, Garcia, Chaves, Peterson or Horn? We don’t know yet. Crawford would time Thurman very well, but Thurman isn’t Postol or Gamboa, he can box and move. Crawford also doesn’t have superb defense so it is hard to tell how he will react against elite counter-boxers who also have good timing. Frankly it is hard to predict how Crawford would do against Thurman, because Crawford’s opposition thus far is of a lower caliber than what we see at 147lbs.
Lamont Peterson
He defeated Felix Diaz and recently defeated David Avanesyan. Lamont Peterson is a great technician who knows how to box well. He should have beaten Garcia, when they fought, but he awoke from slumber late in the championship rounds and lost. Peterson in 2007 was considered the new Mayweather of boxing, similarly to what many claim of Spence today, a prodigy of the game who was going to take over the division – it never materialized as Bradley pounded his hope away.
Peterson could box and challenge Thurman on a competitive night. He has the skillset to do it, but Peterson’s downfall is that he lacks power. Unlike Bradley or Pacquiao, Peterson is not always focused and tends to shape up in the later rounds — Peterson lost fights that he should of win. His fight against Lucas Matthysse really exposed his lack of concentration during the fight. Matthysse was not a technician like his countrymen Chaves, Matthysse was a brawler, so the knockout was an example of carelessness from Peterson’s part. Unfortunately, Thurman shows more discipline in the ring, and he normally starts the fight at a very high tempo, so if Peterson doesn’t wake up early he will be put to sleep.
Conclusion
In my humble opinion, I believe Pacquiao is clearly the only boxer who could present Thurman with a lot of difficulties. For some reason or another, after Mayweather retired people started to sleep on Pacquiao, even after he clearly defeated Bradley and Vargas — two boxers who have a better resume than anyone Brook or Spence faced at 147lbs. Pacquiao is not only quick but a fast puncher. He might not be the hurricane boxer of the past, but Pacquiao is now a much better boxer and one who has the experience and underrated defense to still become a unifying champion. Thurman will have to watch out, if he decides to call out Pacquiao. Perhaps it will be tougher to beat Pacquiao than to face the winner of Brook versus Spence. We shall see.