By Dan Ambrose: WBA interim welterweight champion Keith Thurman (22-0, 20 KO’s) expects to beat 34-year-old former IBF lightweight champion Julio Diaz (40-9-1, 29 KO’s) in their fight on April 26th next month at the StubHub Center, in Carson, California, USA. Thurman, 25, is the much younger and stronger fighter of the two, and it’s going to be awfully difficult for Diaz to be competitive in this fight the way that he was recently with Amir Khan and Shawn Porter.
Keith Thurman
Keith Thurman boxing news
Keith Thurman vs. Julio Diaz on April 26th on Showtime
By Scott Gilfoid: Interim WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman (22-0, 20 KO’s) will be defending his interim WBA 147lb strap against 34-year-old former IBF lightweight champion Julio Diaz (40-9-1, 29 KO’s) on Showtime on April 26th, according to Dan Rafael. Thurman is quickly becoming the Paul Williams of the welterweight division with no one wanting to fight him, and Golden Boy Promotions sticking him in with guys that are beneath his amazing talents.
I don’t understand why Thurman wasn’t matched against Amir Khan on May 3rd instead of Diaz. I take that back. I do understand why Thurman wasn’t given the Khan fight. Obviously, they want to keep Khan winning long enough to get the big money fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Thurman would spoil their plans. Thurman is clearly the third best fighter in the welterweight division behind Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, so they’re not going to feed a more popular fighter like Khan to him so that he can destroy Khan before he’s faced Mayweather for the cash out fight.
Let’s get real folks, Thurman is nowhere near ready for Floyd Mayweather
By Daven: All over the internet I read people genuinely expressing their desire to see Keith Thurman go one on one with the best active fighter around today. The very notion that Thurman could collide with Money May in September is ludicrous for several reasons but I will cite the three major reasons in my article.
First of all Thurman has a mediocre following at best. Only die hard boxing fans especially from the United States and the United Kingdom are aware of his existence as well as talents. One could be the greatest technician or knock-out artist in the game but without any mainstream interest you’re simply expendable.
Schaefer working on Thurman, Matthysse, & Figueroa tripleheader on April 26th on Showtime
By Dan Ambrose: Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer is working on a huge fight card on April 26th on Showtime with WBA interim welterweight champion Keith Thurman (22-0, 20 KO’s), Lucas Matthysse (34-3, 32 KO’s) and WBC lightweight champion Omar Figueroa (22-0-1, 17 KO’s) in separate fights on the network. It sounds like a potentially good card except that Matthysse’s opponent could be lightweight John Molina.
That’s not a good match-up because Matthysse is bigger and stronger than Molina. That would be halfway decent opponent for Figueroa, because he’s a lightweight at least. If Golden Boy is matching Matthysse with Molina, then it’s quite possible that Thurman and Figueroa will be facing opposition that are less than impressive as well.
What to do with Keith Thurman?
I really consider Keith Thurman as “the legitimate threat” in the welterweight division. There is some speculation that he is an untested hyped-up fighter. This may be true, but the facts are no one really wants to fight him or try to expose him. There seems to be some collaborative efforts in place where everyone has a reason not to fight Thurman.
Many fighters are quick to discredit him to avoid a fight against him. Whether the excuses are reasonable or not, here is list of fighters that confirmed they will not, do not, or in the past avoided fighting Keith Thurman: Marcos “El Chino” Maidana, Paulie “The Magic Man” Malignaggi, Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero, Shawn “Showtime” Porter, and Luis Collazo. I have yet to hear or read any news indicating Keith Thurman is avoiding anyone. Instead, he is calling them all out.
Keith Thurman – Will He Be The Most Avoided/Feared Fighter In 2014?
By Rocky Esposito: I have watched and studied Boxing long enough to realize and practice a simple truth… Never make the mistake of anointing a Boxer as a ”Super Star” until he himself has earned it inside of the ring. Not to pick on him, because it is largely the Sports media’s fault for helping fuel the fire, but Adrian Broner is just the latest example of this. Here, you had a very young and gifted fighter become inpatient and unwisely place himself into a weight division that he clearly was not ready for.
Yet, there is another young 147lb fighter who will not arrogantly tell you how good he is, he will not post things on the internet just to get your attention. Nope, he’d rather just earn your respect inside of the ring. The man I am talking about is Keith ”One Time” Thurman.
Mayweather vs. Maidana Undercard
Keith “One Time” Thurman (23-0-0 22 KOs) has to hold on to his interim WBA belt for another year longer. It seems that Floyd “Money” Mayweather (45-0-0 26 KOs) swooped in and took Marcos Maidana (35-3-0 31 KOs) away from him and Adrien “The Problem” Broner. With the recent plan changes, Broner is tweeting that he wants to fight on his big brother’s undercard. It seems that Thurman versus Broner is the most logical choice for that night.
Considering the fact that Thurman retained his interim belt with a one-sided knockout victory over Jesus Soto Karass the same night Broner lost to Maidana, it was Thurman that should have been the one fighting Broner that night hence the point of an interim belt.
Can Collazo claim a second world title?
By Timothy Medina: On Thursday at the Barclays Center located in Brooklyn, New York, Luis Collazo (35-5, 18 KO’s) retained his WBA International Welterweight title against Victor Ortiz (29-5-2, 22 KO’s). Collazo winning the fight was no surprise to me. What surprised me was how Collazo won. The fight ended much earlier than anyone had expected when Collazo landed a thunderous right hook on Ortiz’s chin that would leave Ortiz on his knees, unsure of what he got hit with, at the end of the second round.
Collazo’s victory over Ortiz was alarming and he has once again made himself noticed in the welterweight class. Even though he disposed of Ortiz, he has not made his mark in the welterweight class. Collazo has defeated a once very good fighter, yet, Ortiz had not fought since June of 2012, and is not the same as he was three years ago.
Brook wants Keith Thurman vs. Shawn Porter winner in June
By Scott Gilfoid: #1 WBA, Kell Brook (23-0-1, 14 KO’s) says he’ll be fighting the winner of the proposed Keith Thurman vs. Shawn Porter fight by next June at the latest. The Thurman-Porter fight is being talked about by Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer for next April, and the chances are very high that Thurman will emerge as the winner of that fight unless he can somehow mug Thurman in the same way he did to Devon Alexander last December.
“Shawn Porter vs. Keith Thurman. The winner I get before June.”
Keith Thurman: One Time’s time to Shine
By Jamie Eskdale: I recently wrote an article about who are the most feared/avoided fighters around. There was one fighter who I wanted to include in the article however I resisted temptation because I thought it would only have been fair to devote a whole article to the guy. Step forward Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman.
Keith Thurman has been making his way up the Welterweight rankings almost unnoticed except to the hardcore boxing fan. Adrien Broner’s jump to Welterweight and immediate title shot seemed to take a bit of shine off of Thurman. Never one to bitch or moan Thurman has gone about his business impeccably and shown actions speak louder than words.