Thurman promises to end Mayweather/Pacquiao era for good

By Raj Parmar - 06/27/2019 - Comments

Image: Thurman promises to end Mayweather/Pacquiao era for good

By Raj Parmar: Keith Thurman is very pumped up for his championship showdown with Manny Pacquiao on July 20th, and his excitement goes beyond world titles. The undefeated fighter feels he will be putting an end to one of the longest and most dominant eras of boxing after his fight with the Pacman is over.

In an interview with Fanatics View, Thurman has stated that on July 21 there will officially be a new welterweight division once he takes down Manny. Thurman feels the time of prior generation welterweight superstars led by Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. will finally be at its end and replaced with new faces such as himself and fellow undefeated welterweight champions Errol Spence and Terence Crawford.

It is true that the names Pacquiao and Mayweather have shadowed the sport of boxing (and especially the welterweight division) long after their best fighting days were well behind them. Even though the hardcore boxing fans may be familiar with current great fighters, the mainstream public and casual fans still familiarize more with names like Mayweather instead of the top fighters of today.

A big part of why this has occurred is for one, the pound for pound best and most popular fighter in Mayweather retired from the sport before fighters such as Thurman, Spence and Crawford fully reached their prime. None of them got to battle with Mayweather for the pound for pound crown and get the opportunity to have their name thrust in the mainstream spotlight.

Pacquiao was the other biggest name to casual fans besides Mayweather in the welterweight division in recent years, as well as in the sport overall. This will be arguably Manny’s first time facing an elite young fighter who is at his peak in the welterweight division. Thurman therefore has received a gift that his peers Spence and Crawford have not had the opportunity to get, which is to fight a worldwide known superstar under very bright lights.

It truly is becoming a golden age for the welterweight division in boxing and if Thurman is able to pull off a victory over Manny, we will have three undefeated welterweight champions at their peak of the careers in Thurman, Spence and Crawford which will create salivating matchups in the future and perhaps finally a brand new era in boxing just like Thurman is predicting.