Keith Thurman: record, next fight and profile →
By Andreas Hale - Earlier this week, Keith Thurman voluntarily relinquished his WBC welterweight title due to an injury that will push his return to a boxing ring back even further. Thurman hasn’t fought since unifying his WBA title with Danny Garcia's WBC strap when he defeated the previously unbeaten Puerto...
Keith Thurman didn’t mention an opponent or a date, but he indicated late Tuesday night that he plans to return to the ring sometime this summer. The unbeaten WBA welterweight champion stated in a Tweet, “I continue to rehab my hand and elbow and I look forward to getting back in the ring this summer. This is a temporary setback and I will be the unified champion once again.”
Unified welterweight champion Keith Thurman has voluntarily relinquished his WBC title while he recovers from the effects of elbow surgery last year and a hand injury he suffered in training camp last month.
According to World Boxing Council President Mauricio Sulaiman, Keith Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs) has vacated the WBC welterweight title. Thurman has been inactive since March of 2017, when he won a twelve round split decision over Danny Garcia to unify the WBA, WBC world titles.
Jessie Vargas has yet to be in an easy fight. Or one that goes exactly the way it should play out. The welterweight contender and former world titleholder understands not only what is at stake tonight, but all the obstacles that are in his way to achieve a win tonight. Despite being the betting favorite in the eyes of many boxing scribes, he is listed as the B-fighter against Adrien Broner tonight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Former welterweight champion Shawn Porter (28-2-1, 17 KOs) is getting tired of waiting for his mandatory shot against WBC/WBA beltholder Keith Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs). Porter, who lost a close decision to Thurman in 2016, became the WBC mandatory last year after knocking out Andre Berto in a final eliminator.
Terence Crawford agrees with Keith Thurman. In fact, Crawford would’ve said something similar to the statements Thurman made in October if he were in Thurman’s position. Thurman’s comments generated great debate when he claimed Crawford must become “relevant” within the welterweight division before the unbeaten WBA/WBC 147-pound champion would consider fighting Crawford (https://www.boxingscene.com/thurman-crawford-relevant-welterweight-we-fight--121474).
IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence (23-0) recently met with the media in Las Vegas and discussed a variety of topics in his boxing career. Next up for Spence is his IBF mandatory challenger Carlos Ocampo (22-0). The June 16th fight will be a Dallas homecoming for the Texas resident.
IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence (23-0, 20 KOs) is still hoping to land a unification with WBA, WBC world champion Keith Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs). But based on the latest set of circumstances, it may not happen until 2019 or even 2020.
So with Keith Thurman pulling out of his scheduled return to the ring on May 19th with a hand injury, the likes of Shawn Porter are now forced to wait even longer to fight for the WBC welterweight title. Porter, who lost a narrow decision to Thurman in the summer of 2016, defeated Andre Berto last year in what was sanctioned as a WBC final eliminator for a mandatory title shot.