By Jake Donovan
The frustration Keith Thurman has felt in being sidelined goes well beyond his not being able to fight.
What hits home even more for the unbeaten welterweight is not being able to see how the final years of his 20s would’ve played out in the ring.
“It’s just a little disappointing missing those years in my youth,” Thurman admitted during a recent conference call. “But I’m motivated now by the thoughts of my future.”
Thurman (28-0, 22KOs)—who celebrated his 30th birthday last November—finally gets to return to the ring this weekend at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, which has housed his past two starts. His upcoming title defense versus Josesito Lopez (Saturday, Fox, 8:00pm ET) will be his first piece of ring action in 22 months, when he was last seen outpointing Danny Garcia in their March ’17 battle of unbeaten welterweight titlists.
The clash with Garcia headlined a primetime edition of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on CBS, as did his 12-round win over Shawn Porter the prior June. The pair of win rank among the most watched boxing events in the fours years since PBC was first formed in 2015.
A lot has changed, however, in Thurman’s time away from the ring. Whereas his two bouts on CBS were among the few that were network-funded, the bulk of PBC-branded events were carried via time-buy televised slots.
That all changed in the final quarter of 2018, when PBC entered lucrative, long-term network deals with Showtime and Fox Sports. The latter deal came complete with a kickoff press conference last November in Los Angeles to reveal the entirety of its 2019 1st quarter schedule, in which Thurman took part to reveal his bout with Lopez (36-7, 19KOs).
“It’s a beautiful moment, a beautiful time to be in the sport of boxing and I feel blessed to be at the top,” Thurman said in reflecting on the state of the game upon his long-awaited return. “We always knew we would be (back) here.
“Fortunately for me, that day is today. Fox is dedicated in its services. You got (ESPN and Showtime) dishing out more money than HBO was, before HBO got out of the game.”
More so than the stacks of cash to be collected, the unbeaten Floridian has found inspiration from those who’ve managed to elevate their game even past their prime. It provides additional motivation in wanting to accomplish his own goals, but not at the expense of around as long as some who’ve outlasted Father Time far longer than expected.
“Watching Manny Pacquiao fighting at 40 years old also motivated me,” Thurman admitted of his welterweight rival’s lopsided 12-round win over Adrien Broner one week ago in Las Vegas. “It’s very inspring for a man in my situation. It’s very inspiring and keeps me in a positive light.
“As a matter of fact, after he won I pulled a Floyd Mayweather and wound up running three miles in the rain at 2:30am. There’s something about seeing a 40-year old man performing at that level that tells you (that) you got this.”
Although his upcoming Fox headliner will serve as the starting point for making up lost time, it doesn’t mean he plans to add any more years to his long-term plan.
“It’s always been my lifelong dream to retire young and successful,” Thurman reveals, although by no means with the thought currently on his mind. “I just keep debating what young age that is, since I’ve had some setbacks.
“I also want to have an option to retire, but not a need to retire. Mentioning Pac, (former two-division champ Bernard) Hopkins, (legendary NFL quarterback Tom) Brady, Floyd. It’s very inspiring for a man in my situation. It’s very inspiring and keeps me in a positive light.”
