Keith Thurman hinting at an impending comeback
Former welterweight champion Keith “One Time” Thurman (29-1, 22 KO’s) recently made his way back into the public spotlight. The hard-hitting pugilist achieved this by taking to his social media to express interest in a showdown with WBO welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford. Bud was fresh off his thrilling and impressive win over Shawn Porter. Knowing that Crawford was hotter than the tip of a Snoop Dog blunt, Thurman put his bid in.
Now, One Time took to his social media once again. Yet this time it was more of a general PSA. Of the many things that the wordy Floridian spoke about, the most pressing was the insinuation that he had an upcoming fight announcement. If Thurman did have a trick of this nature up his sleeve, now would certainly be a great time to yank it out! While he only has one professional defeat on his ledger, he is still coming off that July 20, 2019 loss to the recently retired Manny Pacquiao.
“Look man, I’m coming back 2022! We got an announcement real soon, that’s why your boy is in here working. Weight management on point, doing what I got to do! There are still a lot of great fights …I’m ready to go back to work, I’m ready to get in there with the champs. I love great fights! I’m ready for Crawford, I’m ready for Spence. I just want to get back and shake it off, just a little bit of the dust, a little bit of the rust and then we going to come back shining!”
THE LINE-UP
Ideally, Keith Thurman really does have something of substance in the works. Despite being on the shelf for so long, One Time truly is a premium talent and would serve as an excellent dance partner for numerous welterweights. Beyond speculating on potential mega-fights involving Thurman, it’s also intriguing to think about what tune-up type fights he could return too. When Errol Spence returned from his car accident, he cast aside any notions of a tune-up and went straight back into the fire versus Danny Garcia. Perhaps Thurman would choose to do the same.
If excluding the champions, there are still a number of juicy would-be showdowns for One Time. To begin, there is a potential rematch with two-division world champion Danny “Swift” Garcia (36-3, 21 KO’s). Both men are coming off losses and would seriously benefit from a victory over a respected, name brand opponent. Given that Garcia would no doubt love a shot at revenge, Thurman v Garcia 2 could be just what the doctor ordered.
Two other exciting fights are available, although they would come against up and coming pugilists. The first match is represented by Vergil Ortiz Jr (18-0, 18 KO’s), ranked #1 (WBO and WBC), #2 (WBA) and #4 (IBF). The second bout could be staged against tough Philly fighter Jaron “Boots” Ennis (28-0, 26 KO’s), ranked. #3 (IBF), #4 (WBA), #5 (WBO) and #6 (WBC).
YOUNG GUNS
Both Ennis and Ortiz are known and recognized talents in the sport at welterweight. Each has a good following and are expected to accomplish great things in the future. Scalping the young lions at this point in their career could still be viewed as very beneficial for Thurman. Aside from the symbolic victory, One Time would greatly profit from the bump up in rankings, provided he defeated them. At this time, Thurman is ranked #4 (WBC), yet outside of the WBC, Keith Thurman is not ranked in the top fifteen by any other major sanctioning body. So it’ll be fun to see who Team Thurman can unearth for his comeback bout. Let’s just hope that this revelation comes sooner rather than later.
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By: Bakari Simpson
