As the year began, Keith Thurman was looking forward to return to the ring at full strength and getting in at least two fights prior to 2021.
At this point, he will settle for his health and one fight, in that order.
“Right before the virus hit, the way I saw it, I was ready for a fight date,” Thurman (29-1, 22KOs) told renowned emcee Ray Flores during a Premier Boxing Champions (PBC)-hosted Instagram Live interview. “I was ready for maybe three months out (from present day). Give me 12 weeks, give me a fight. I was thinking end of summer-ish, the later part of summer I was ready to come back.
“With all that in mind, it just gets pushed further. For me, last year having two performances while injured. This year, I’m just trying to hold onto my health. Have one performance, maintain my health and then have two fights next year and make things exciting again.”
Thurman has not fought since a narrow points loss to legendary Filipino southpaw Manny Pacquiao in their welterweight title consolidation clash last July. The Pay-Per-View headline was a commercial success, but at a cost to the 31-year old from Clearwater, Florida, who lost the fight, his unbeaten record and the welterweight title he’d held for more than four years to that point.
With the sport shut down due to the ongoing global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, there stands a chance of another lengthy layoff in store for the former welterweight titlist. Thurman was out of the ring for 22 months before returning last January in a 12-round win over Josesito Lopez. It was enough to set up the superfight with Pacquaio last summer, but overall has been left with just four total fights since a stoppage win over Luis Collazo in July 2015.
Chance of his returning to the ring by summertime currently remain as slim as any portion of the sport at the title and contender level resuming anytime soon. With that in mind comes the understanding that not only will his 2020 campaign be limited to one fight, but once again doing so after more than a year away from the ring by the time it happens.
“We have fights that were postponed. We have venues that are gonna need new dates. We have venues that might need new venues,” acknowledges Thurman. “What bothers me about all of this is understanding all of those complexities and then saying, “I want to perform.” If I was just to put a ballpark figure on it, like “Yo, just give me a paycheck this year,” then let me get in the ring in November… let me get in the ring in December.
“It’s not that I don’t want to come back (sooner), but there’s a delayed process. We don’t know if things will be functional until August or September. Sports is going to be one of the last things to come back around. You’re talking about arenas. You’re talking 25,000 people in attendance. Concerts and sporting events will be some of the last things coming around.”
Under the PBC conglomerate alone, no fewer than four confirmed shows were removed from the schedule, beginning with its March 14 card on FS1 for which Thurman was due to serve as a ringside expert analyst. A number of yet-to-be announced cards for April and May are also on hold, with no clear plan of rescheduling given the current global healthy crisis.
It’s not an ideal situation for any fighter, with the bigger picture having long ago resonated with the former welterweight titltist.
“Understanding the delayed effect in getting these fights, these fighters who are being pushed back, when are they coming back,” Thurman rationalizes. “If they were going to fight in July, when are they fighting? September? There is no evidence of what’s gonna happen.
“We will just have to take it one week at a time with where we are in the world today.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox