Fans are looking forward to seeing a big welterweight unification showdown next March, thanks to the WBA/WBC unification between Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia being made official for March 4 (venue still to be determined but Barclays in New York a strong possibility) – and we could be in store for a Fight of The Year candidate. You know, the kind WBA welter champ Keith Thurman has already given us.
Thurman, 27-0(22) boxed just once this year, but he sure gave us an epic when he did fight; he and Shawn Porter giving us a thriller in June. Now, against Garcia – also unbeaten, at 32-0(18) – Thurman can be relied upon to thrill us all again. “One Time” will not have a tune-up ahead of the March clash, unlike like Garcia (who will face huge underdog Samuel Vargas in a Philly “homecoming” next month) but most people see the upcoming fight as a 50-50 affair.
Thurman, who will rest and recover from the rigors of the Porter war, is confident he will pick up his second world title next year, but Garcia is equally confident. Garcia is the taller man, Thurman has the longer reach, both fighters can go to war and be action fighters when they want to. And Thurman has been more than willing to go to war recently, while Garcia has not looked the same force at 147 as he was down at 140. Is Thurman the “real” welterweight in this fight?
50-50? Maybe Thurman is a slight favorite. But both men, at their best, can be expected to bring out the best in one another. Thurman fights every fight hard, Garcia seems to rise to the occasion whenever he steps up in quality of opposition and senses clear and present danger (see his fine wins over Lucas Matthysse and Zab Judah, also Amir Khan). Together, these two undefeated welterweights will give us the best fight of the first quarter of 2017.
Prediction? Garcia on points? Thurman by decision? A draw? This one is a little too tough to pick.
