Keith Thurman, now the 'old dog,' ready to battle Vergil Ortiz Jnr

At the tender age of 24, young boxing lion Keith Thurman had knocked out 18 of his first 19 opponents when assigned to a Barclays Center co-main event versus Slovenia’s 37-year-old Jan Zaveck.

“It wasn’t like he was knocking everyone out or doing anything special,” Thurman, now 37 himself, recalled. “He just knew how to turtle, knew how to keep his hands up, be on the inside and protect himself. What’s the first rule of boxing? Protect yourself at all times.”

The exuberant Thurman, on his way to becoming a unified welterweight champion, had to settle for a 12-round unanimous decision victory that night.

The fight that followed that evening was an even more impressive masterclass of veteran skill as eventual Hall of Fame talent Bernard Hopkins became the oldest boxing world titleholder of all time at age 48 by defeating Tavoris Cloud, 31, in a sterling unanimous decision featuring generalship of the fight’s flow, superb counterpunching and astute use of the lead right hand and left hook in the IBF light heavyweight bout.

“You’ve just got to know how to apply the punches, keep the hands up, Thurman said. “I’ll always remember that [night] as a tremendous card of old fighters beating young dogs. It’s not just age. It’s the fighter inside of you and how you prepare for the battle and fights ahead.”

Thurman now finds himself in the veteran’s shoes, returning from a March beatdown over six rounds in which he was stopped by 154lbs belt holder Sebastian Fundora, and now finds himself moving to middleweight against heavy-punching Vergil Ortiz Jnr, 24-0 (22 KOs), on Dec. 5 on DAZN at Desert Diamond Casino in Glendale, Arizona.

The eloquent and wise Thurman knows exactly what time it is.

He’s digging deep – physically, psychologically, spiritually – to find a way to win a fight virtually no one expects him to.

Ortiz, 28, has been annoyed that the likes of Fundora, two-belt champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis, former undisputed 154lbs champion Jermell Charlo and middleweights Erislandy Lara and Tim Tszyu have found or looked at other options than the Texan for their next bouts.

The willing Thurman, 31-2 (23 KOs), raised his hand.

“I’m just going to use everything I know – my ring IQ, my defense, my speed and my power to not let Vergil Ortiz get the knockout that he wants to showcase his skills and everything else he does, to say, ‘Look at what I did against former champion Keith Thurman,’” Thurman said.

Thurman considered a showdown with Ortiz last year before the Fundora title-fight opportunity presented itself. Struggling against the 6-feet-6 Fundora’s voluminous, whipping punches, Thurman was badly marked on the face and then stopped by referee Thomas Taylor despite his objections.

“Obviously, I wasn’t able to put on the best performance last fight, and it’s my job to re-amp that with this bout,” Thurman told BoxingScene. “Styles make fights. Real boxing people know that. Other people think, ‘He’s lost. He’s getting older. He’s done.’ I just don’t agree.

“The fighting spirit in me, the warrior, it burns strong. I didn’t stop the last fight, didn’t quit from the corner, was never knocked down, and I’m looking forward to this fight. This is a good fight for me right now.

“You lose, you get back in the ring. It was six rounds. They stopped the fight pretty short, and maybe that is a blessing in disguise, For wherever you are today, you are. This is our situation.”

Some of the most fascinating conversations in the sport are the ones aging fighters carry on with themselves as the youthful opponent blessed with more strength and stamina awaits.

While the sad ending has happened more times than not, the spirited showings by ancestors like Hopkins still inspire.

“To end [my] career on top, you’ve got to win Dec. 5. It puts me right back in the limelight, re-amps how the people are going to feel,” Thurman said. “Feelings and emotions are always shifting. It’s about [processing] knowledge and information. So for this fight, I can give you guys new information, a new performance, and that’s going to change how many people think about Keith Thurman.”

Ortiz fully respects Thurman, calling him his favorite welterweight among those who battled around 2013 to 2019: Thurman, Errol Spence Jnr, Shawn Porter, Danny Garcia.

Yet after a year’s layoff due to a contractual squabble with promoter Oscar De La Hoya, Ortiz seeks another dismantling like November’s second-round knockout of veteran Erickson Lubin to land a WBA title shot against the Lara-Tszyu winner.

Thurman knows adjustments are necessary following the loss, and he’s fighting a man of similar height this time, with Ortiz standing just 1½ inches taller than he.

“When I reflect [on Fundora], I didn’t like the lack of punch count. I was up against a high-volume puncher and my numbers were low. One of the things I’m telling myself is, ‘Hey, champ, let’s go, get these hands moving, get these reflexes working and throw more punches – bags, mitts, sparring,’” Thurman said.

“Ultimately, you know Vergil has been dropped. He’s not a perfect fighter. He’ll be there to be hit, and I think I can sit down on my punches, hurt the young fighter and make the upset.”

Being savvy, shrewd and defensive-minded can force Ortiz to the deep waters, Thurman reasons.

“I don’t really get too bothered about what they’re saying, how they’re feeling,” Thurman said of public opinion of the matchup. “It’s my job to be Keith Thurman. Train hard. Come in with a good game plan.”