Injured Keith Thurman Out of PPV Headliner Against Tim Tszyu
Mar 18, 2024 • 2:01 PM ET
Keith Thurman has been declared out Monday for the March 30 pay-per-view main event versus unbeaten WBO 154-pound champion Tim Tszyu because of a training camp injury, BoxingScene has learned from two officials.
The card will remain an Amazon Prime Video pay-per-view from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and Premier Boxing Champions officials have worked Monday to replace Thurman, with Sebastian Fundora considered the front-runner to land the spot.
The timing and nature of the injury to Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs) were not immediately confirmed to Boxing Scene.
The two officials who reported Thurman was off the card due to an injury spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly before PBC made an official statement on the matter.
Former welterweight champion Thurman, 35, has fought just once since his July 2019, loss to Manny Pacquiao, when he defeated Mario Barrios by unanimous decision in February 2022.
Nicknamed the “Towering Inferno,” PBC product Fundora (20-1-1, 13 KOs) is slated to fight Serhii Bohachuk for the vacant 154-pound WBC super-middleweight belt on the same March 30 card.
In addition to the negotiations that are underway to finalize Tszyu-Fundora, an official said there is an exploration to stamp that bout as a unified title fight with both the WBO and WBC belts on the line.
BoxingScene will have more on this later Monday.
Lance Pugmire has been a full-time boxing writer for nearly 20 years, serving now as BoxingScene’s U.S. Senior Writer and assistant producer for ProBoxTV’s “BoxingScene Today.” Pugmire capped a near 20-year career at the Los Angeles Times (sports investigations, NHL/MLB beat work, law enforcement/courts and boxing/UFC) to join The Athletic, and then USA Today. Pugmire’s stint at The Times started with the first Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez fight and the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jnr then-record pay-per-view, leading through a slew of ringside assignments at major bouts, including Mayweather-Pacquiao, Mayweather-Canelo and the Canelo-Golovkin trilogy. Lance’s appreciation for boxing is rooted in his admiration and appreciation for the fighters, gladiators who have proven to be the most forthcoming and candid of all the athletes he has interviewed over a career dating to 1990. Lance was honored to be named the 2022 winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence and he’s collected many BWAA writing awards in categories ranging from breaking news to deep-dive long features.
