Keith Thurman showed that he still has his speed in today’s promo for his fight at 154 against WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu on March 30th on Amazon Prime PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Thurman’s Appearance Sparks Discussion
Sporting a new haircut to camouflage his receding hairline, the former WBA & WBC welterweight champion Thurman looked good in filming the promo for his debut at 154 against Tszyu.
The speed & agility are still there for ‘One Time’ Thurman, but does he still have the talent that had him viewed as the #1 welterweight on the planet during his prime in 2016?
Thurman has essentially been semi-retired since 2017, and he’s only made several appearances since to replenish his bank account for fights against Josesito Lopez, Manny Pacquiao, and Mario Barrios.
It looks like Thurman had put on some pounds around his waistline from his two years of sitting on the coach, but he’s got plenty of time to trim that off before he meets up with Tszyu on March 30th.
Underdog Status Fuelling Motivation
PBC has picked out the 35-year-old Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs) as the opponent for the unbeaten Tszyu (24-0, 17 KOs), and not many are giving him much chance in this fight.
Boxing fans who are feeling brave might choose to bet on Thurman, hoping that he can find that old magic that he once had during his prime 3000 yesterdays ago.
At his best, Thurman was a better fighter than Tszyu could ever hope to be, and if ‘One Time’ has got 70% left of what he was, that might be enough to defeat Tim.
The concern is whether Thurman’s stamina will hold up in a long 12-round fight against Tszyu because he will likely have to go the full distance to win. We also don’t know how Thurman will handle getting hit by a fighter like Tszyu, one of the biggest punchers in the 154 lb division.
You can imagine that Tszyu is going to be targeting Thurman’s body with his punches because that’s an area where he’s shown weakness during his career.
