Keith Thurman will be here this week
This weekend, coinciding with Black History Month, American professional boxing subweight star Keith Thurman will also make a comeback in the ring. He will face off against former Ultra Lightweight World Boxer Mario Barrios at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, USA. The match will be broadcast live on the SPORTS channel of FOX Television in the United States in the form of PPV (Pay-per-View).
Although, Keith Thurman officially sounded the horn for his final week of preparation with a touching open letter. But in recent years, has Keith Thurman, who has become synonymous with boxing disease, still worth looking forward to?
Long time no see
It's been almost two years since Keith Thurman last appeared on stage. The last time boxing fans had the pleasure of seeing him was on July 20, 2019, when Keith Thurman and sub-midweight boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao fought 12 rounds before losing that match by a 1-2 split, along with the WBA sub-middleweight super champion gold belt that had accompanied him for more than four years.
Later, Keith Thurman began to travel frequently to the hospital for treatment due to a left palm bone injury, and eventually had to undergo surgery in early 2020. As it stands, Keith Thurman's post-operative recovery is not very satisfactory to him, otherwise he would not have waited a full 14 months before Keith Thurman played again.
Once brilliant
It should be hard for today's boxing fans to imagine that Keith Thurman was the most promising boxer to dominate the sub-middleweight after floyd Mayweather Jr. retired. Excellent technique, decent strength, and a superb grasp of the rhythm of the game make Keith Thurman a rare opponent in the sub-middleweight.
Dan Birmingham, a boxing coach at the Hall of Fame, said of Keith Thurman as:
"He has monster-like strength, he's a natural killer, and the ferocity of his heavy punches is like tearing an opponent's head off his shoulder." I think he's one of the best climbers I've ever met in my coaching career. I believe that in the near future, Thurman will shine in the sub-middleweight or super-middleweight. He just needs a proper opportunity to prove himself now. "
In 2012, Boxing Ring magazine, known as the Bible of Boxing, awarded Keith Thurman the Year's Most Promising Boxer Award.
Keith Thurman also lived up to expectations, defeating world champion opponents Danny Garcia and Sean Porter in 2016 and 2017 respectively, and taking the world champion titles of WBC and WBA.
It can be said that in 2016 and 2017, Keith Thurman was absolutely capable of unifying the world boxing championship title of the four major middleweight organizations and became the hegemon of this level, but a difficult opponent named "Injury" suddenly appeared, interrupting Keith Thurman's upward momentum.
Injury
During a match against Sean Potter, Keith Thurman suffered an elbow injury and underwent surgery shortly after the game. During post-operative recovery training, he injured his palm again and had to recuperate again. In this way, Keith Thurman was injured intermittently for a year, and when he returned to the ring, even when dealing with a second-rate target boxer like Jose Hito Lopez, Keith Thurman began to feel obviously a little difficult.
The biggest impression of Keith Thurman now is that he does not dare to exert his strength when facing his opponents in the game, and seems to be afraid that if he exerts too much force, he will hurt himself again. In addition, it is obvious that there is a lack of self-confidence on the playing field. His anxiety and nervousness during the game were almost visible to the naked eye. Can't move the opponent, the technology does not dare to show, only the ability to control the rhythm of the game, and the opponent to maneuver.
So I don't think Keith Thurman is worth the boxing fans anymore, although in Keith Thurman's open letter, he mentioned that he was passionately involved in the game and promised to do what he said, to raise his hands high and end the game (meaning winning). However, I am still pessimistic that Keith Thurman has completed the task as long as he is not injured while completing this game.
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