Keith Thurman Speaks on Loss to Pacquiao
In the lead up to his highly-publicized title fight with WBA super world welterweight champion.
Keith “One Time” Thurman had a lot to say heading into his highly-publicized title fight with Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao. The slick-talking Floridian was keen to let the world know the Pacquiao was tailor-made for him. Following the river of tough talk, over twelve rounds, Pac Man would outwork and drop One Time. When all the dust had settled, Thurman lost a closer than expected split decision loss.
GHOST IN THE MACHINE
Even before the match-up, however, Thurman was saddled with a great deal of criticism from the boxing public. The vitriolic sentiments came from fans who felt that Thurman had lost his zeal for the sport. Following his strategic title unification victory over Danny “Swift” Garcia, One Time disappeared into the sunset. Initially, he was out of sight tending to bodily injuries. Then, he was off the radar due to his relationship with his new bride.
“Well what surprised me the most was actually his poise, which shows how much of a legendary champion he is, and then how much he kept his hands up, which also showed that he was respecting my power […] and I don’t think that is a normal posture that we see Pacquiao in a lot – with his hands blocking like that, you know?” ~Keith Thurman, former world welterweight champion
During this lengthy period of inactivity, which ultimately lasted roughly two years, One Time was an absolute ghost within the division. He was not seen at fights, presented no notable announcements and contributed absolutely nothing to social media. And this was all while the welterweight divisions was one of the hottest and most dense weight classes in the whole sport. As a result of his reclusive behavior, many in the boxing world felt as if Thurman had lost his fire for proving his dominance in the sport.
Clearly, Thurman is determined to change this perception and not make the same mistakes.
TAKING LUMPS RESPECTFULLY
Since his loss to Pacquiao, One Time has taken to social media to give Pac Man his credit and make it known he’ll definitely be back soon. In a recent interview with PBConFox, Thurman went into more detail about this fateful bout. The hard-hitting former champion was candid and humble when providing play-by-play commentary with show host Kate Abdo.
Of all the items that Thurman discussed, the matter of the scorecards was the most dualistic. On the one hand, One Time can take solace in knowing that one judge had him winning and one only had him losing by one point. The scores let Thurman know he was in the fight, yet losing by one point is like not hitting the lotto due to one wrong digit. For Thurman, it’ll be a source of irritation for some time.
“The judge had it, Pacquiao winning by one point, one point out of twelve rounds! So if its one point decision, that’s like losing in a footrace by one foot. One point means it was the knock down that was the final say so in the match and I accepted that. That’s why I was humble at the end of the fight. I fought a champion and I fought to the best of my ability and we performed.”
At the moment, the boxing world will simply have to wait and see what these two fighters will do next. Of course, Thurman wants his get back, and has already asked for the rematch. However, that will be determined by what the fistic-minded politician chooses to do. Pacquiao has already stated that he will not be stepping back into the ring this year. Yet when he will return is still one unsolved mystery.
3kingsboxing will continue to monitor the situation and provide timely updates on any late breaking developments.
By: Bakari Simpson
