At some point, Keith Thurman hopes to once again share the ring with Manny Pacquiao.
That honor likely won’t come this year, and perhaps never at all. It’s a scenario he envisioned as a possibility when the year began, but that was before 2020 took on a life of its own. With the sport only now beginning to reshape after all but being placed on hold for three months, there now exists a logjam of top fighters waiting to get in the ring.
No division is greater affected than welterweight, where a number of intriguing matchups will have to wait—including any such vision of Thurman and Pacquiao running back their 12-round classic from last July.
“I think it’s hard at this time… I don’t know what kind of fight Pac’s gonna do,” Thurman (29-1, 22KOs) admitted to BoxingScene.com. “No matter what it is, it most likely won’t be a better fight or a better performance than Thurman-Pacquiao. It was arguably one of Pacquiao’s best performances of all time, just the action of the fight. I had people who told me afterward, after the 12th round they were waiting for more action. Nobody knew the fight was over. Nobody paid attention to the rounds. They were just glued to the TV.”
Thurman dug an early hole after suffering an opening round knockdown in their Fox Sports Pay-Per-View main event last summer at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The 31-year Clearwater, Florida native valiantly fought back but just couldn’t overcome the early deficit as he dropped a split decision. The setback marked the lone loss of his career along with his first days since 2013 without any version of a welterweight title around his waist.
The pinnacle of Thurman’s career came in a 12-round win over Danny Garcia in their March 2017 unification bout between unbeaten welterweight titlists. The win came two months prior to the arrival of Errol Spence Jr. (26-0, 21KOs) among the welterweight elite, when he traveled to England to conquer Kell Brook.
From there came a vision of becoming an undisputed champion, only for injuries to force Thurman to the sidelines for nearly two years and forcing him to relinquish one title. Two fights later, he is now without any belts while Spence holds two along with carrying the general distinction as the best welterweight in the world today.
Both are advised by Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) creator Al Haymon, and is a fight that Thurman craves. That said, there will remain throughout his fighting days the desire to avenge his lone career defeat and all that was lost with it.
“I want the opportunity to get my title back,” insists Thurman. “It was my title that [Pacquiao] took and I would love that opportunity. It’s not mandated or forced upon him, so it’s just really up to him and what he’s choosing to do. Until he finishes his career out, I will demand that rematch. I had a goal in mind, I had a dream that when I fight Errol Spence, Jr. it will be for three world titles one way or another. Originally, I was the undefeated, unified welterweight champion. Now, currently he is the undefeated, unified welterweight champion.
“If I step into the belts with him today, there’s only two belts on the line. I gotta blame Manny Pacquiao for that. A part of me wants my get back. I would really love to share the ring with him once again. It was just such an amazing experience. It was one of my favorite fights of all time. I’d love to relive it and possibly get that opportunity to get the belt back.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox