Thurman On Barrios Win: “This Was A Good Start For Building Momentum”

Keith Thurman Says Barrios Win Starts a New Phase of his Career

When welterweight pugilist Keith “One Time” Thurman (30-1, 22 KO’s) tested his might with Mario Barrios, he was expected to win. Both Thurman and Barrios entered the bout straight off a loss. One Time had been outpointed by boxing sensation Manny Pacquiao and Barrios was stopped by Gervonta Davis. Even more daunting for Barrios, he was moving up from super lightweight to engage Thurman in his native welterweight division.

OLD WOUNDS, NEW BLOOD

The perfect storyline for One Time would have seen him splay El Azteca out on the canvas with a devastating one-punch knockout; the earlier the better. In the end though, despite claiming victory, there was no knockout to speak of, period. The lowest point of the night was not his inability to secure the knockout however, but being clearly hurt to the body for the umpteenth time.

In the eighth, One Time was caught in the corner and knifed to the body like a prison snitch. Thurman instantly recoiled and snatched his own mouth piece out to get more wind. Like all the other times that Thurman was hurt to the body, he weathered the storm and continued to fight the good fight. So naturally, for One Time, it’s already water under the bridge. Eternally unbothered, the Floridian wordsmith interprets the whole affair as a great opportunity to shake off some rust and reintroduce himself to the boxing public as a viable threat.

“We rocked him, we didn’t stop him, we didn’t even drop him. He got a nice body shot on me. I didn’t go down, take a knee. I fell over leaning in too much, that was a little funny. But, at the end of the day man, I’m just happy! I hope that you guys enjoyed that, I hoped that you guys are excited that I am back.

I do believe that this was just a good start and I just want to keep the momentum because that is the one thing that I lacked in the past. And I think that if I can keep the momentum, I will be able to really just be a better version of myself.”

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By: Bakari Simpson

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