WBA (reg) welterweight champion Keith Thurman has joined the chorus of those who were pleasantly surprised by last night’s Mayweather/Berto PPV, which actually turned out to be one of the more entertaining Floyd fights of recent times.
Following the fight, which Floyd continued to insist will be his last, Thurman stated he now senses a changing of the guard in the welterweight division should “Money” stick to his word and retire.
Kenny Porter, father and trainer of former IBF welterweight champion Shawn, says that neither of the much sought after bouts with Florida’s WBA (reg) 147 lb champion Keith Thurman, or Philadephia’s former 140 lb boss, Danny Garcia, are realistic options for his son right now.
Following Shawn’s dominant victory of Adrien Broner in June, fans were looking forward to a potential fight with his friend and divisional rival Thurman, who himself claims he wants a big fight before the end of the year, after an underwhelming clash with Luis Collazo in July.
Whatever you think about Amir Khan, he was a more deserving candidate than Andre Berto for the 49th fight of Floyd Mayweather’s career. So was IBF welterweight champ Kell Brook, or Ohio’s Shawn Porter. In fact, there are loads more deserving fighters, including Top Rank’s Tim Bradley – though let’s be honest was never going to get the call, but you get the point.
Hell, given more notice Danny Garcia could have picked up a career-high payday for his 147 debut rather than fight Malignaggi, yet one man who many fans would have liked to have seen in the opposite corner is Florida’s WBA (reg) welterweight champion, Keith Thurman.
If his fight with friend and rival Shawn Porter doesn’t come off as soon as he or the fans would like, then Florida’s Keith Thurman has turned the screws on Britain’s Amir Khan once more, telling assembled media repeatedly over the weekend that he would like to test the Bolton man’s chin in the ring.
Thurman had been upset by comments Khan made referencing their respective wins over New Yorker Luis Collazo, in which Khan suggested Thurman doesn’t have the one punch power his ring moniker would have you believe.
Former IBF welterweight champion”Showtime” Shawn Porter, who fans last saw getting the measure of Ohioan rival Adrien Broner in June, is getting ready for his planned (September) ring return against ‘whomever’ is put in front of him, although has conceded he will put the date back if old amateur friend and rival Keith Thurman is the man up next.
Thurman boxed New Yorker Luis Collazo in his Tampa backyard last month in a performance that was more criticised than praised, and thus “One Time” has signalled a desire to sign off 2015 with a big fight.
Marc N. (Raleigh, NC): When Mayweather walks away, I think Keith Thurman has a very good chance at carrying to torch for the new era. Would you agree based on what we’ve seen from him so far?
Vivek W. (ESB): Not to be taken personally, as this comment isn’t directed towards you personally, but I’ve grown tired of the endless search by media and fans looking for “the next”. Time and time again, we continue to see young fighters put in situations far earlier than they’re actually ready. We saw it with Broner, I think we’ve seen it with “Swift” Garcia (although he hasn’t taken an “L” yet), and a countless amount of others. As it relates to Keith Thurman, I really think he has pretty good talent, and he has shown a certain amount of evolution; but anyone ready to say – at this early stage – that he is the heir apparent to Floyd Mayweather is not looking at things the way they should.
This weekend, IBF 147 lb champion Kell Brook is set to make an announcement regarding his next title defence, with the mooted September 12th date against American brawler Brandon Rios now looking to be in serious jeopardy.
Promoter Eddie Hearn has spoken to iFLtv to suggest it’s now likely that Brook will box in October, and that Rios is unlikely to be the man in the opposite corner, insisting the American’s team don’t want the fight.
“Kell’s been rushed back into camp after the Frankie Gavin fight and the Rios fight is stalling. It’s stalling over a number of reasons, and I don’t think they fancy the fight. I think they know how good Kell Brook is.”
It would seem that in many corners of the boxing press, people are turning on Florida’s Keith Thurman following his victory Saturday night over veteran southpaw Luis Collazo. Some of the very same people who believed him to be the 2nd coming are now seemingly changing their mind after witnessing “One Time” overcome a scare at the end of the 5th round, that saw the wind knocked out of his sails from a big shot to the body – with Collazo’s assault only halted by the bell.
It was proof of Thurman once again overcoming adversity in a fight – as he did back in March against Robert Guerrero, fighting on and winning with a nasty head injury. On Saturday he did incredibly well to stay on his feet.
After being compared in an unfavorable way to Amir Khan in how he did in beating Luis Collazo last year, WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman (26-0, 22 Kos) says he’s ready to fight Khan next if he’s interested in fighting, and he’ll travel to the UK to fight Khan at Wembley Stadium in London if he’s willing to take the fight.
Thurman, 26, has taking a lot of heat from boxing fans due to the way he looked against Collazo last Saturday night in beating him by a harder than expected 8th round TKO at the USF Sundome Arena in Tampa, Florida. To be sure, Thurman got the victory, but he also was hurt by Collazo in the 5th, and he ran from the 34-year-old fighter through most of.
A day after his victory over Luis Collazo (36-7, 19 KOs) last night on Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN, unbeaten WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman (26-0, 22 KOs) is patiently waiting by the phone for undefeated boxing legend of the sport Floyd Mayweather Jr. (48-0, 26 KOs) to call him and say he’s going to fight him on September 12th rather than someone like Karim Mayfield and Andre Berto.
Thurman, who did not shine against Collazo, feels that he would give Mayweather an exciting fight that the boxing public would want to see for September. Thurman believes that his ability to box as well as punch would make it difficult for the 38-year-old Mayweather to deal with him. Thurman compares himself to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who Mayweather beat two years ago. But the Thurman believes he’s got better conditioning, movement and boxing skills compared to the 24-year-old Canelo.