By: Hans Themistode
Time simply wasn’t on Keith Thurman’s side.
At one point, the former uniformed weight champion enjoyed the view from the top of the 147-pound mountain. After consecutive wins over both Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia in 2016 and 2017, Clearwater Florida, the native reigned supreme as the division’s only unified roster. Since those career-defining victories, however, Thurman’s career has passed slowly but surely.
Thurman’s win over Garcia came with a hefty price tag as he was forced to spend about two years out on the sidelines treating various injuries. In his return to competition, Thurman had a hard-fought victory over Josesito Lopez before losing to Manny Pacquiao in July 2019.
With the former attacking star finding it difficult to return soon, due to a combined injury and a positive COVID-19 test result, Thurman will return to the ring on February 5, meeting Mario Barrios.
Although Thurman has been largely inactive for the past 5+ years, with the light at the end of the boxing tunnel fast approaching, he hopes to put an end to that.
“At this point, we really have to work to the end,” Thurman said in an interview with Fight Hub TV. “We missed a lot of time and we admit it.”
Over the past few years, Thurman has sat back and watched as the heavyweight division rapidly changed form. Garcia is no longer a viable threat to the team’s superiors and both Porter and Pacquiao have long since retired.
While the road back to gold seems to be an arduous one for the former player, he appears undeterred by what lies ahead. More importantly, despite falling down the welterweight ladder, Thurman fully believes that his ultimate goal, is just a few more wins.
“We are still in a great position,” continued Thurman. “My whole goal is to win a title back, reunite and be the undisputed thing. I want to make it happen, enough time has passed. All we had to do was dust ourselves off, show ourselves to the world of boxing again and then get everyone excited about what Keith Thurman had to offer by challenging Errol Spence, Terence Crawford and Ugas. ”
