Unified welterweight champion Keith Thurman is recovering from surgery on his right elbow and expects to be out of action until the end of 2017.
Thurman, who held the WBA 147-pound title, defeated WBC 147-pound champion Danny Garcia at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on March 4 to become the unified 147-pound champion. Thurman fought through severe pain in his right elbow to secure the 12-round unanimous decision victory.
This year, an exciting one already for boxing fans, promises further great fights, and a good number of them could be rematches. A rematch happens either because there was a return clause in the contract or due to public demand, and this year we can either definitely, in the case of some fight returns, or likely, in other cases – look forward to:
Andre Ward-Sergey Kovalev II (on for June), Srisaket Sor Rungvisai-Roman Gonzalez II, Keith Thurman-Shawn Porter II and Anthony Joshua-Wladimir Klitschko II.
Former welterweight champ Shawn Porter fought like a man possessed last night in overwhelming a game Andre Berto, himself a proud former champ. Of course, with his relentless, thoroughly fan-pleasing style, Porter always fights with passion; but last night’s fight was the key to Porter getting something he has craved since last June: a rematch with the only man he feels has genuinely beaten him, in Keith Thurman.
Thurman and Porter went to war in a great, great action fight last summer, and Porter, having dropped a close 12 round decision, instantly made it clear that he wanted a rematch. With last night’s ninth round stoppage win over Berto, Porter won a final eliminator for the WBC welterweight title Thurman currently holds, along with the WBA belt.
Arguably (not that too many fans are arguing) the best, most talent-rich weight class today, the welterweight division of right now is capable of throwing up some fantastic match-ups. We’ve already got this month’s Shawn Porter-Andre Berto non-title showdown (all but guaranteed to be a thrilling action affair) and we’ve got the big IBF welterweight title fight collision between champ Kell Brook and unbeaten, some say star of the future, Errol Spence Jr.
But there could be more sizzlers to come. Keith Thurman, the recently crowned WBA/WBC 147 pound king, has called for a Manny Pacquiao fight. No, this doesn’t mean the fight will happen, but at least “One Time” is sticking to his routine of asking for the big match-ups. Thurman has plenty of options; what with Porter, who pushed Thurman hard in that great, great fight last summer, saying he lists this rematch as a priority, above a second go at Brook.
Manny Pacquiao’s star is fading, Andre Ward has been labelled dull by fight fans so many times he has stopped caring, and Sergey Kovalev may well see himself closely, narrowly outboxed and outscored by S.O.G in their June return. So who today is deserving of the mythical but also lofty title of pound-for-pound king?
It seems we have to make way for the new guard, for the news stars: Vasyl Lomachenko, the pick for many even before this past weekend’s utter dismantling of a very good fighter in Jason Sosa, and Terence Crawford, he of the speed, accuracy and power, and also Keith Thurman, a throwback in terms of constantly seeking out the very best opposition and thus far beating them.
Keith Thurman wants to fight the best and give the fans what they want to see; ditto Shawn Porter. And when the two welterweight stars faced one another in June of last year, we witnessed a classic. Ever since the close decision that was awarded to Thurman, fans have craved a rematch.
Do fans really want to see a return meeting between welterweight stars Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia? In truth, the clash the two unbeaten warriors engaged in this past Saturday was no classic – it was no dud, but at the same time, it was no Leonard-Hearns.
And after the split decision went “One Time’s” way, Angel Garcia, trainer and of course pop of Danny, said he was “disgusted” with both the official verdict that saw his son lose his WBC belt and unbeaten record, and the sport of boxing itself. Angel, in his own inimitable way, said he wanted Danny to call it quits and retire. No-one really believed the once-beaten Philly talent would actually hang ’em up, and now, via a video Angel has posted (big thanks to Bad Left Hook) Garcia Snr has claimed revenge will be exacted in a return bout.
– The peak audience for Saturday’s SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING ON CBS broadcast of Thurman vs. Garcia reached 5.1 million viewers, the largest audience for a primetime boxing broadcast since 1998 and up 30 percent over last June’s SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING ON CBS primetime broadcast of Thurman vs. Porter. Last Saturday’s peak audience came during the final round of the 12-round main event bout.
By Mauricio Sulaiman: What a wonderful week it was for boxing and the WBC. Shinsuke Yamanaka defended his WBC bantamweight title for the 12th time with an impressive seventh-round TKO in Japan. Mexican “Churritos” Hernandez traveled to Thailand and won the vacant WBC flyweight title via third-round TKO. WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew knocked out David Haye in a heavyweight fight. Heather Hardy defended her WBC International title, representing women at a major event. Erickson Lubin became a mandatory contender at super welterweight by knocking out Jorge Cota, and Keith Thurman unified the welterweight division with a split decision win over Danny Garcia.
As fans know, Danny Garcia lost both his WBC welterweight title and his unbeaten record on Saturday night in New York, when he was beaten by Keith Thurman via 12 round split decision. And while most people had no argument with the decision going Thurman’s way, Angel Garcia, Danny’s father and head trainer, told the media at the post fight presser that he is “disgusted with the decision” and that he is “disgusted with boxing right now.”