Former WBA/WBC welterweight champion Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman says he’s going to use his “revenge punch” on whoever his next opponent is because he wants to take his “wrath” out on them over him taking a loss the last time he fought in 2019.
‘One Time’ Thurman is STILL waiting to find out who his next opponent will be for his return fight, but he’s made it known that he’s ready & willing to face WBA ‘regular’ light welterweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.
Thurman says he’s been waiting for the phone call from Tank’s promoter Leonard Ellerbe to set up the fight. That would be a big-money pay-per-view type of clash between Tank Davis and Thurman, but it’s not looking like it has any chance of happening.
Thurman (29-1, 22 KOs) is still troubled by his defeat to Manny Pacquiao two years ago, as he feels it should have never happened had he thrown 15 more punches in the fight.
It’s unclear why Thurman believes that 15 punches would have made the difference because he clearly would have needed more output than that for him to have won the decision unless he’s talking about an extra 15 punches per round.
“This weekend, I would love to see Errol Spence,” said Keith Thurman last Saturday. “This fight right here, it was supposed to be Pacquiao – Spence.
“That would never manifest if I threw 15 more punches. That would have never manifested,” said Thurman in wishing he’d fought differently against Pacquiao two years ago in his loss in 2019.
“It was never supposed to manifest. So, Spence getting around, ‘I don’t care about Thurman.’ Cool! In my head, I was like, ‘Get through, Pacquiao. Do whatever you do or don’t do; we got to watch it.’
“Whatever happens, and you want that next big pay-per-view fight, Thurman is right here.
Thurman betting Spence won’t turn down PPV fight
“When Al [Haymon] calls you and says, ‘Do you want to have this big pay-per-view fight?’ Show me you don’t care no more,” said Thurman about him wanting a fight with Spence.
“Plus, we all want to test ‘The Truth.’ I want to seek ‘The Truth,’ do you know what I mean? Y’all should know I read a lot. I seek the truth. I love this sport,” said Thurman.
With Spence’s many options for good payday fights still available to him, he literally could freeze Thurman out for the remainder of his career.
If Thurman loses another fight, it won’t matter anymore. Spence will have a good reason to ignore Thurman at that point, which is why it’s Keith must make sure he doesn’t lose again.
Thurman could help prevent getting beaten if he stays in shape in between fights, as he’s gotten into a bad habit of putting on a lot of weight.
He can’t keep doing that if he wants to be 100% for his matches because he’s turning training camps into partial fat farms.
For the Pacquiao fight two years ago, Thurman had to trim off 30 lbs of fat in going down from the 180s to 147.
All that weight loss may have factored into Thurman losing to Pacquiao, as he wasn’t able to fight as he didn’t perform as well as he’d shown in his fights with Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter. That version of Thurman would have beaten Pacquiao handily.
Keith To Use ‘Revenge Punch’
“I told y’all that I’m the first person that always said it,” said Thurman. “I’ve got an ‘O’, and I’m not afraid to let it go. If you can beat me, beat me.
“My momma used to beat me. My daddy used to beat me, do you know what I mean?
“I didn’t feel like Manny Pacquiao beat me, but he ended up defeating me. He gave me my first L. It is what it is.
“Y’all ain’t never seen Thurman’s revenge punch. Y’all have never seen that revenge punch. It’s coming. It’s coming next.
“Whoever they put in the ring, they’re going to get the wrath of me taking the L. Real talk,” said Thurman.
For PBC to be taking this long to find Thurman’s opponent, they’ve got to be working hard combing the ranks trying to find the ideal opponent for him.
Hopefully, PBC isn’t looking to find an easy mark for Thurman in a showcase type of fight against someone like past his prime Adrien Broner, Amir Khan, Kell Brook, or Robert Guerrero.
It will be a huge disappointment if Thurman’s next opponent is someone like Guerrero, Omar Figueroa Jr, or Andre Berto. Thurman needs to take on someone that won’t lead to him being ridiculed by the boxing public.
But at the same time, Pacquiao’s loss to Yordenis Ugas last Saturday night may have put the fear in PBC because the Filipino star was in the same boat at Thurman is now, not having fought in two years, and he looked rusty as heck.
The talk of this “revenge punch” will mean a lot more from Thurman if he faces a quality opponent and not some over-the-hill old guy carted into the ring for Thurman to knock over.
Good options for Thurman’s “revenge punch”
-Yordenis Ugas
-Jaron Ennis
-David Avanesyan
-Vergil Ortiz Jr
-Conor Benn
-Danny Garcia
-Abel Ramos
-Egidijus Kavaliauskas
-Mikey Garcia
-Daniyar Yeleussinov
-Thurman The Stoic
“I’ve always been at the top of the sport ever since the amateurs,” said Thurman when asked why he’s such a difficult draw for anybody in the welterweight division.
“I just know how to scrap. I know how to give people good fights, and I know how to protect myself at all times, the golden rule in boxing.
“And when I get hit, I take it. If I get dropped, I stand up. When I get body shots, I don’t go down, alright?
“So you can say what you want about Thurman. ‘He’s weak here; he’s weak there.’ Cool. Show me, do it,” said Thurman.
It’s good that Thurman can endure pain without showing it to his fans, but it doesn’t matter though.
If Thurman is going to be getting dropped or hurt to the body, as we saw in his loss to Pacquiao, the judges are going to see it regardless.
It’s good that Thurman is getting up after being knocked down, but you have to wonder if he would have survived if he’d been really hurt.