By Edward Chaykovsky
Floyd Mayweather Sr., father and trainer of retired former champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., is backing WBA champion Keith Thurman to add the WBC title to his collection by defeating Danny Garcia later tonight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The undefeated boxers will collide in a fight being televised in primetime by CBS.
Their fight has been heavily hyped and building steam since last year.
Mayweather Sr. has a lot of respect for Thurman's power, especially his big right hand, and he expects him to use it quite often against Garcia.
"One thing about Thurman is that he’s got a damn good right hand, and I’ll tell you what he’s going to do. He’s going to line him up, he’s going to have him in the corner and he’s going to clock him, believe me. I ain’t saying that he's that great of a boxer, but that man can bang for real," Mayweather Sr. told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.
Mayweather Sr. is giving Thurman a very good shot at ending the fight with a knockout. He predicts Thurman, should he hurt Garcia, will close the show.
"I ain’t gonna tell you that he’s gonna knock him out. I think there’s a good chance that he can knock him out. I’m going for Thurman and I’m telling you what may happen. I think if Keith Thurman hits him good once and he jumps on him, the fight will be over," Mayweather Sr. said.
For the last two years, Thurman was calling for a fight with Mayweather Jr. That's where the praise and respect ends for Mayweather Sr. The veteran trainer says Thurman is not fast enough or skilled enough to beat his son, and also says there wasn't any high demand for that fight because nobody was given Thurman a chance to win.
"Thurman talks about wanting to fight Floyd but I’m not even worried about him fighting Floyd because that fight is out of district anyways. Even if it had happened, Keith Thurman would have never whooped Floyd because he’s not even fast enough. He doesn’t have those kinds of reflexes. Keith Thurman’s punches take too long to get there. He can never win anyways and Floyd is on his way out anyway and everybody knows what would have happened with Keith Thurman because if the fight could have been that good, a lot of people would have been asking for it," Mayweather Sr. said.