By Jim Calfa: After a 2.5-year break from boxing, former #1 welterweight Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman will be returning to the ring on February 5th for what he calls is his “get back” fight against Mario Barrios on FOX pay-per-view at the Michelob Ultra Arena, in Las Vegas.
The former WBA/WBC 147-lb champion ‘One Time’ Thurman (29-1, 22 KOs) has been resting up since 2019 and restoring his batteries to get him ready to challenge the world champions Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford, Errol ‘The Truth’ Spence Jr. and Yordenis Ugas.
Thurman says he wants any of those three champions after beating former WBA ‘regular’ 140-lb champion Barrios (26-1, 17 KOs) on February 5th.
Unfortunately, we don’t know what the 33-year-old Thurman has got left at this point. As most boxing fans noted, ‘One Time’ Thurman didn’t look good in his comeback fight with Josesito Lopez in 2019 after he’d been out of the ring for close to two years, and he lost his last fight against 40-year-old Manny Pacquiao in July 2019.
Thurman needs the Fountain of Youth
In the two and a half years since then, has Thurman gotten older, or has he discovered the ‘Fountain of Youth’ and sipped from its youth-restoring waters? If he can find the mythical Fountain of Youth, Thurman might want to guzzle the waters, not sip from it because he needs to get young in a big way for him to compete with the lions that rule the 147-lb division.
Boxing isn’t for the old, especially for fighters that disappear for 2+ years repeatedly, as Thurman has done on two occasions since his fight with Danny Garcia in 2017.
Thurman needs to find some magical elixir that will transmogrify him back to where he was earlier in his career in 2015 and 2016. A time machine would be handy for Thurman right about now.
This week, Thurman is looking old and frail in his workout videos. He doesn’t look like a young person going about his weight lifting and back workouts.
You can only hope for Thurman’s sake that he can fight better than he’s looking right now, as he’s got the appearance of a person in their mid to late 30s, and that’s not where he needs to be.
Thurman says he wants to regain his #1 spot as the top 147-pounder on the planet, but it seems kind of farfetched.
“Right now, we’re just trying to get back into action for myself and for the fans and for me,” said Keith Thurman to KTFO Boxing on his ‘get back’ fight against Mario Barrios on February 5th on FOX PPV.
“Once when your both ‘One Time’ gets back in action, and, of course, I’m going to be judged upon my performance, which I look forward to. After presenting that performance, I look forward to getting right back and having my eyes aim down the pipe, looking at all the champions.
Keith wants title shot next
“I would love a Ugas fight, and I would love a Spence fight. I want the winner of that fight. After this comeback, all champions right here. Come see your boy, Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman.
For the fans’ sake, Thurman should at least prove that he rates a title shot before facing champions Spence, Crawford, or Ugas.
If Thurman is given a shot on a silver platter against one of those guys after just one fight in his ‘get back,’ it’s going to look like he’s cashing out with a payday before disappearing for another two to three years.
Fans have already seen how Floyd Mayweather Jr. returns every few years for mismatches against woefully poor opposition in his PPV fights.
Boxing doesn’t need Thurman following in Mayweather’s footsteps in using the same strategy for bank heist-level events that leave fans feeling disappointed and ripped off.