By Keith Idec
LAS VEGAS – Manny Pacquiao has watched some footage of Keith Thurman while preparing to fight him Saturday night.
One fight Pacquiao purposely didn’t review was Thurman’s most recent performance. Pacquiao has been told what happened to Thurman during the seventh round of his comeback bout against Keith Thurman, but he avoided taking a look at it because he didn’t want to grow overconfident.
“I heard about that,” Pacquiao told a group of reporters Tuesday at MGM Grand. “But I didn’t watch it. I didn’t want to watch that last fight, because if I’m going to watch that one, I’m going to underestimate him.”
Lopez (36-8, 19 KOs, 1 NC), who was a huge underdog, hurt Thurman badly with just over 1:40 remaining in the seventh round January 26 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Thurman estimates that Lopez actually hurt him with three separate power punches during that shaky sequence.
The unbeaten WBA welterweight champion held, moved and eventually punched his way to surviving that seventh round. By the eighth round, Thurman had regained his composure and took control of their 12-round fight again.
The Clearwater, Florida, native was declared a majority-decision winner in his first fight in 22 months. The 30-year-old Thurman, a slight underdog against the 40-year-old Pacquiao, realizes many people point to his last performance as evidence that the Philippines’ Pacquiao will beat him in their FOX Sports Pay-Per-View main event at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
“That’s the sport of boxing,” Thurman said Tuesday. “We say all they remember is your last fight, right? So, Keith Thurman is somebody that almost got knocked out in the seventh round, if you’re a person with that kind of analysis. But to me … Keith Thurman is a great champion, who has fought through adversity and diverse characters. He’s fought multiple southpaws throughout his career. He’s fought several undefeated fighters throughout his career. You know, at the end of the day, I unified two world titles. And inactivity, it wasn’t a blessing. You know? It wasn’t a downfall, at the end of the day, either.”
The 12-round, 147-pound championship bout between Pacquaio (61-7-2, 39 KOs) and Thurman (29-0, 22 KOs, 1 NC) will headline FOX Sports’ four-fight pay-per-view telecast Saturday at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.