By Dan Ambrose: Former unified welterweight champion Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman is considering returning to the ring in August against Yordenis Ugas.
The former WBA welterweight champion Ugas (27-5, 12 KOs) will be a tough out for Thurman, and he might be a step too far for the ring-rusty ‘One Time,’ who, with the way he talks about his missed opportunities, sounds a lot like an older person, regretting decisions made.
In the interview with Brian Custer today, Thurman talked about wanting to turn to the ‘One Time’ knockout puncher he’d been many years before inertia took control of his career, parking him on the side of the road for most of the last six years.
It was disturbing to listen to Thurman, who comes across as someone that has been asleep for the last six years and has just awakened. He doesn’t realize that he’s not the young pup that he was 3,000 yesterdays ago, and there’s no going back.
Can you imagine what Thurman’s career would have been like had he stayed active? Did success and becoming a millionaire ruin ‘One Time‘ Thurman’s potential?
‘One Time’ Thurman’s activity since 2017:
- Mario Barrios – 2022
- Manny Pacquiao – 2019
- Josesito Lopez – 2019
- Danny Garcia – 2017
Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs), if he makes it back to the ring, will be coming off a long 18-month layoff, which is just another of the many periods of inactivity for the 34-year-old ‘One Time’ since 2017.
Why has Thurman ruined his once-promising career by fighting just three times in the last six years? Some would argue that Thurman got content, enjoying the fruits of his labor with the millions that he made from his fight against Danny Garcia in 2017 and Manny Pacquiao in 2019.
“When Tank fires, it’s ‘they rock you, they shock you,’ and that’s what Tank is all about, and I love it,” said Keith Thurman to Brian Custer’s Youtube channel.”One time was similar. For me, who embodies that one-time KO punch?
The look on the interviewer Brian Custer’s face while Thurman was droning on like, ‘What is wrong with this guy?‘ Thurman was talking crazy and in complete denial about the mess that he’s made of his career by choosing not to fight.
Even if Thurman does fight Ugas in August, which is far from certain, how soon will it be before he fights again?
Given Thurman’s predictable pattern, we probably won’t see him fight for another 18 to 24 months while kicking back, savoring his victory, and talking it to death for anyone willing to listen to him. What has happened to Thurman? Is the money that he’s made, or is he just lazy?
“Of course, I grew up embodying that. Then I saw Deontay Wilder, and I thought that was the definition of ‘One Time,” said Thurman. “You see that monster land a punch. So once again, ‘Bronze Bomber.’ Boom, boom, boom! It’s in the title. It’s psychological.
Thurman needs to come down from the clouds, change his nickname, ‘One Time,’ to something else because he’s NOT a knockout artist like Wilder or Gervonta Davis, and he’s too old to become that type of fighter.
“We’re human beings. We embody the spirit of a warrior. To what degree? ‘Sweet Pea’ Pernell Whitaker, so sweet with it. There’s a sweetness to it,” said Thurman.”You know, like when you get in the flower, and you get that little nectar and that natural sweetness, that honey, that all natural.”
What on Earth is Thurman talking about?
“That’s what it’s all about. So ‘One Time;’ Yeah, we got to go back to ‘One Time,’ you know? They can play their games, they can say what they want to say, once upon a time, but ‘One Time’ is a mindset, and as I get back into the original mindset of what it means to be Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman, I believe that it will showcase in my future fight,” said Thurman.
